The Arizona Diamondbacks are far better this summer than anyone had any right to expect. Part of it is the collapse of the Colorado Rockies pitching staff and the ownership implosion with the LA Dodgers, but there's also no discounting the magic the Kirk Gibson's team has found in 2011. One big part of that is Ryan Roberts.
↵Roberts wasn't supposed to even make the club but with Geoff Blum's knee injury and a great Spring Training season, there was simply no way to keep Ryan off the roster. And once he made the team, he made impossible to bench him, hitting a .257 with a .790 OPS and .447 SLG.
↵Ryan's started in 52 out of the D-backs 79 games and is well on his way to recapturing his 2009 season when he started 45 games at second base and had a total of 305 at-bats.
↵Known mostly for being a contact hitter and a gritty player, Roberts' defense has shown an improvement in his defense. Check out this play from Saturday's game against the Tigers:
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