On Friday night, Josh VanMeter and Pavin Smith each clobbered home runs to right field. It was VanMeter’s first with his new team; for Smith, it marked his first in the major leagues. Earlier this week, Wyatt Mathisen blasted two home runs in a span of two innings, launching both balls to the same section of the left-field bleachers for career homers Nos. 1 and 2.

For most of September, Diamondbacks games have been a land of opportunity for young position players. In most cases, the soil has not been fruitful, production hard to come by. But recent days have had a different feel.

Perhaps it is simply because they have been playing the Texas Rangers and the Colorado Rockies, two of the Diamondbacks’ fellow bottom-feeders of the west divisions. Those clubs represent two of the four worst pitching staffs in the majors.

Or maybe it is something else, something more encouraging: Perhaps the Diamondbacks’ younger players are gaining experience, getting comfortable and starting to show glimpses of what they can do.

“It seems like one of those guys does something different every night,” outfielder Tim Locastro said after the Diamondbacks beat the Rockies, 11-5, to sweep a doubleheader on Friday. “They keep one-upping each other. It’s fun to watch. Hopefully these last two games we get more of it.”

Mathisen was just 2 for 18 before Wednesday. VanMeter entered Friday hitting .179 since being acquired on deadline day. Rookie Daulton Varsho was at .165. Josh Rojas’ average was at just .180. Among the young players, only Smith had posted good results entering the weekend, going 9 for 29 (.310) in his first eight games.

All of those numbers were derived from small samples, thus all should be taken with heaping piles of salt. And yet all but Rojas, whose season is over due to a back injury, improved their numbers in recent days.

“It’s misleading,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “Numbers are like a bikini. They show a lot but not everything, right?”

Lovullo said there is much more to appreciate from this group of young hitters than their batting averages might suggest.

“I just like the way they step in the box, the way they’re controlling their barrel, controlling their bodies and controlling the strike zone,” he said. “Those are really important keys for young hitters to be successful early and to continue to grow and learn and to (take it) to the next level, which is slugging.”

Lovullo then pivoted to VanMeter, who arrived having gone just 2 for 34 (.059) with the Cincinnati Reds, who sent him to the Diamondbacks as part of the Archie Bradley trade. He mentioned how often he has seen VanMeter take quality at-bats and hit balls hard, even if those trips to the plate aren’t always ending with hits.

“His barrel is behind the ball,” Lovullo said. “That’s what I’m evaluating. I’m not so much looking up there and seeing the numbers and paying attention to the batting average. I’m watching what happens inside the at-bat. I’m not so concerned about anybody that’s hitting .175 or .180 if they’re getting a pitch and putting the barrel on it. I know the numbers will increase over the course of a long season.”

VanMeter reached base via a hit by pitch in addition to a three-run homer in the third in Game 2. Mathisen walked twice in the second game. Varsho collected two hits and a walk in Game 1, just the second multi-hit game of his career.

Smith has perhaps looked the most comfortable of the bunch. He arrived with a reputation for plate discipline and his plate appearances have, well, looked disciplined. He has not chased pitches out of the zone, nor has he appeared too aggressive or too passive.

To that point, in the fifth inning of Game 2 on Friday, Smith worked the count 2-0 before turning on a high fastball and sending it into the seats in right field.

“Definitely feels good,” he said. “I was just thinking about how we have a couple of games left (and) I wanted to go home having a home run under my belt. It was good to get that out of the way.”

Smith was the seventh overall pick of the 2017 draft, making him the top selection of the Mike Hazen regime. Varsho was the club’s third selection in that draft. Nearly all of the young players making their way through the system were either drafted, acquired via trade or signed by Hazen’s group.

“It’s fun for me where I get a chance to see these young kids come in, newly drafted, and I watch their bodies grow, I watch their swings improve, I watch them accept some coaching,” Lovullo said. “It’s a great player development story when you watch these young guys. Especially in Pavin’s case today, he hit that ball a long way. It’s been a long time coming. I know he worked hard for that moment. We all celebrated with him. It was good for all of us to see.”