About 1 PM Arizona time on Thursday, the season got here to an finish. Not formally maybe, however with Nabil Crismatt getting shelled and Noelvi Marte robbing a house run to protect a win for the Reds, it was clear that the Diamondbacks would want a miracle: seemingly three wins over the Padres mixed with two losses by the Reds to a Brewers staff principally involved with sustaining well being. They fell on the first hurdle, dropping the sequence opener in San Diego after the Reds had received earlier within the day, and that was that.
However the actual fact that it was Nabil Crismatt getting shelled says quite a bit about how the season went.
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Across the center of spring coaching, the beginning pitcher depth chart appeared one thing like this. Corbin Burnes, Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Brandon Pfaadt. Behind that group of 5 had been two gamers (Jordan Montgomery and Ryne Nelson) who had been slated to start the yr within the main league bullpen however be stored considerably stretched out to fit within the rotation as wanted. The rotation in Reno contained additional depth: Yilber Díaz, Tommy Henry, Blake Walston, and Cristian Mena all had begins with the Diamondbacks on their resumes, whereas Brandon Bielak had 21 begins with the Astros from 2020-2023. Additionally with the Aces was Casey Kelly, a journeyman with 12 profession begins within the huge leagues however 163 begins within the KBO. That’s a stable group of 14 potential beginning pitchers. Whereas the Diamondbacks had 14 gamers make a begin in 2024, that included openers, and no staff used greater than 12 “true” beginning pitchers (pitchers who began in a minimum of 60% of their appearances).
The Diamondbacks, even together with opener Jalen Beeks, are tied for the second-fewest beginning pitchers utilized in baseball this yr, so the whole lot went in keeping with plan, proper? Flawed. Walston went down early in spring, Montgomery was out earlier than the season began, bringing his ignominious tenure in Arizona to an finish. Bielak pitched nicely in two begins for Reno, however then had season-ending shoulder surgical procedure. Díaz appeared fantastic in his first couple of outings earlier than experiencing management points so unhealthy that he wound up in Rookie League. The largest blow was, after all, the lack of Corbin Burnes to Tommy John, however Tommy Henry additionally went underneath the knife in June. Cristian Mena pitched in a travesty of a sport in Cincinnati which resulted in a season-ending shoulder damage. Even the back-ups to the back-ups had been getting damage; Billy Corcoran crammed in for Walston and rapidly joined the injured record. Even earlier than Merrill Kelly was traded away on the deadline, the pitching was paper-thin. The truth that 80% of the unique rotation ended the yr wholesome clouds that truth and results in a misunderstanding of the issue.
The bullpen additionally handled accidents and ineffectiveness to the purpose that Philip Abner—who started the yr in Hillsboro—was showing in comparatively excessive leverage spots within the last weeks of the season, together with coming into with the bases loaded with the staff dealing with elimination. Of the 29 gamers who grew to become first-time Diamondbacks this season, 21 had been pitchers, and 9 of these making their main league debuts. The 29 first-time Diamondbacks doesn’t embrace Ildemaro Vargas, Shelby Miller, or Crismatt, all of whom had appeared a minimum of as soon as for the Diamondbacks in future seasons. (Elevate your hand should you remembered that Crismatt had one look for the 2023 D-backs.)
So it was pitchers like Crismatt who had been key because the season got here to an finish. Crismatt had one begin to his title, principally as an opener in April 2022 for the Padres. He started the season within the Phillies group and carried out pretty nicely as a starter in AAA, however was given his launch twice through the season. The primary time he re-signed with the Phillies, and the second time with the Diamondbacks. After one temporary outing in Reno, he got here up and have become a part of the rotation. He changed Anthony DeSclafani, a better-known pitcher, however one other participant the Diamondbacks basically picked up off the scrap heap. Crismatt proved a pleasing shock earlier than blowing up within the worst doable second.
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But once more, it was a waste of greatness. For the Diamondbacks had been the one staff with two gamers who posted over 6 fWAR, and one among seven groups with two gamers who posted over 5 bWAR. Had they seemed to be in rivalry on the deadline, they seemingly would have held on to Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor.
Sadly, whereas 2025 is over, the consequences of 2025 will proceed. Corbin Burnes will miss a lot of 2026, and with the 2027 season unsure due to labor strife, seemingly won’t pitch a full season till 2028. Zac Gallen is a free agent, and whereas he pitched nicely sufficient down the stretch to obtain a qualifying provide, no matter draft decide compensation the Diamondbacks obtain won’t assist the staff till 2028 on the absolute earliest.
Gamers who had been anticipated to show a nook and contribute merely haven’t achieved so. Jordan Lawlar has struggled each on the plate and with the glove. Tyler Locklear put up dismal numbers earlier than getting damage. Ildemaro Vargas and Tim Tawa ended the season splitting the primary base reps.
It’s onerous to win underneath these circumstances.
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It’s additionally onerous to assign blame. Final yr, the issue appeared apparent: the 98 meltdowns ranked third in baseball, tied with the Rockies. By any measure, it was a bottom-ten bullpen, and on an 89 win staff that completed tied for a postseason spot however grew to become the primary in historical past to be eradicated by mathematical tiebreakers, that was an apparent level of essential enchancment.
The bullpen did enhance just a little bit by some measures. There have been simply 94 meltdowns in 2025. However by WPA, they price extra wins. In 2024, the bullpen “achieved” -1.35 WPA, whereas in 2025 that determine cratered to -4.21. In each years, the failures of the bullpen simply map to lacking the postseason. However dig deeper, and it’s onerous to place all of the failures on the bullpen. In any case, all of these accidents to AAA beginning pitchers weakened the depth, as AAA starters ceaselessly replenish the main league bullpen. However AAA relievers additionally handled damage, notably Drey Jameson, who might need stepped into the nearer position had he been wholesome.
Is the bullpen Mike Hazen’s fault? It’s been a chorus all through his tenure (a minimum of for the reason that 2018 Brad Boxberger catastrophe) that Hazen struggles to construct bullpens. And the 2021 and 2022 bullpens are (by WPA) bottom-20 bullpens within the divisional period (since 1969). However Hazen has struggled to construct pitching staffs basically: since Zack Greinke left in 2019, the pitching workers as an entire has been adverse. It was considerably superb this yr, on condition that Zac Gallen and Eduardo Rodriguez posted the second and third worst WPA figures on the staff this season, that the rotation as an entire was constructive. That’s due to Ryne Nelson, Merrill Kelly, and Corbin Burnes all being top-five. And Corbin Burnes being on that record tells us one thing else of significance.
Notably, Corbin Burnes didn’t seem after June 1, and he had tough outings his first few begins. He was helpful sufficient in a month and a half to rank fifth on the pitching workers in WPA. But in addition, Corbin Burnes exhibits that Hazen’s failure to assemble a championship pitching workers to pair together with his championship offense shouldn’t be for lack of attempting. Burnes joins signings resembling Madison Bumgarner, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Jordan Montgomery as pitchers who had been acquired to stabilize the pitching workers, to take it to the subsequent degree, and none of them have achieved so, for various causes.
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However even with out Burnes, the rotation was stable, with Ryne Nelson stepping up for the second consecutive yr and Merrill Kelly being his standard mainstay. Might Hazen have achieved extra to enhance the bullpen? His largest bullpen acquisition over the offseason was Kendall Graveman, whereas Shelby Miller made the staff in spring coaching and Jalen Beeks was picked up on waivers. The bullpen was purported to be held down by A.J. Puk, Justin Martinez, and Kevin Ginkel. Ryan Thompson was in all probability fourth on the bullpen record, and Ryne Nelson was purported to be on the market as an extended man. There have been higher relievers than Graveman available on the market, however they got here with excessive danger and excessive price. After failing with Mark Melancon, shelling out $10 million for Kenley Jansen wouldn’t have gone over nicely with the fan base. In fact, Jansen went on to be one of many higher relievers within the sport. Each one of many projected high 5 relievers going into the season (Puk, Martinez, Ginkel, Thompson, and Graveman) handled accidents, and Ginkel and Graveman had been ineffective even when wholesome. It’s an astounding stat that solely 4 relievers (Beeks, Thompson, Juan Morillo, and Miller) had extra appearances than the highest starters. An incredible 30% of bullpen appearances (excluding place participant appearances) went to rookies.
There was a concerted effort to repair the bullpen with an eye fixed in the direction of subsequent season. Whether or not or not it pays off stays to be seen, however since there’ll must be rotation replacements for Kelly and Gallen (in addition to further depth within the case of additional damage) cash will must be spent on that entrance, and once more the bullpen will in all probability not get a lot consideration. In different phrases, the entrance workplace is aware of it’s an issue and is making an effort to repair it, however is sort of sure to prioritize elsewhere in free company. That’s in all probability the proper resolution, given the volatility of bullpens, though it won’t make the followers completely happy.
In brief, the largest subject was well being, and whereas it’s simple to say that Hazen ought to have collected extra depth, when trying on the minor leagues it turns into obvious that the depth itself was hit simply as onerous by damage. There’s a restrict as to the variety of minor league gamers on a roster, and it might have been unimaginable to build up extra depth. And the worst factor that Hazen might do can be to overreact to this previous season and spend an excessive amount of money and time fixing the bullpen when there are different areas that want larger consideration.
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Playoff Preview
I’m going to preview every staff various various factors to find out the rooting pursuits of Diamondbacks followers. In fact, as followers you’ve the correct to root for whoever you select, or ignore the postseason utterly.
I’ve ordered the groups in ascending order from the worst to the perfect choices. However on the entire, I feel that is probably the most likeable playoff area to not embrace the Diamondbacks in a very long time, if not ever.
#12: Los Angeles Dodgers
Professionals: Anthony Banda is on the roster?
Cons: All the things. They’re the defending champions. They’re the Dodgers. They’ve extra wealth than Pluto himself (the Roman god, not the canine) and Los Angeles thinks it’s the heart of the universe. Plus, their followers present up late, depart early, and are fairly badly behaved.
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Verdict: For those who root for the Dodgers, flip in your Diamondbacks’ fan card. It’s merely unacceptable.
#11: Boston Pink Sox
Professionals: The World Sequence at all times appears to look good in Fenway Park.
Cons: There aren’t any actual Diamondback connections on the sphere. As an alternative, there’s Trevor Story, who did loads of injury to Diamondback pitching whereas in Denver. Their extra likeable gamers (Liam Hendriks, for instance) are on the IL, and Aroldis Chapman stays a perpetrator of home violence, though I’ll word that he does appear to have turned his life round and is working to do higher. Plus, they’ve been one of many extra profitable groups this century. In reality, they’ve probably the most World Sequence titles this century.
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Verdict: Maybe with ESPN opting out of their contract, we’ll get much less Yankees-Pink Sox rammed down our collective throats sooner or later. But it surely’ll take quite a lot of failure to make the Pink Sox likeable once more. And due to the presence of Paul Goldschmidt, I’m extra prone to pull for the Yankees than the Pink Sox this yr, for the primary time ever.
#10: New York Yankees
Professionals: Paul Goldschmidt. Additionally Luke Weaver, one of many gamers acquired from the Cardinals within the Goldy commerce.
Cons: They’re the Yankees. All Yankees followers enjoyment of reminding everybody what number of titles the staff has received, even when most of these got here earlier than most of their followers had been born. They’re the outdated cash; the Dodgers are the nouveau riche and wise folks don’t like both.
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Verdict: Do I wish to see Goldy win a World Sequence (ideally whereas performing nicely) earlier than he retires? Sure, however ideally not with the Yankees. His presence does imply that within the occasion of one other Yankees-Dodgers I’d a minimum of watch a few of it.
#9: Chicago Cubs
Professionals: Carson Kelly is a former Diamondback, and Brad Keller got here by means of the Diamondbacks’ system. If Dansby Swanson has an excellent sequence, that’s another excuse to heap blame on Dave Stewart and Tony La Russa. Pete Crow-Armstrong is likely one of the extra thrilling younger gamers within the sport, and Nico Hoerner and Kyle Tucker are two extra typically likeable gamers.
Cons: If Dansby Swanson has an excellent sequence, that’s another excuse to heap blame on Dave Stewart and Tony La Russa. Justin Turner is on the Cubs. It’s been simply 9 years for the reason that Cubs received, and Chicago is one among three cities with groups contesting the postseason that thinks it’s the heart of the sporting universe, if not the universe basically. The Cubs are one of many extra annoying fan bases at Chase Area.
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Verdict: Why would you do that, except they’re taking part in the Dodgers, Pink Sox, or Yankees?
#8: Philadelphia Phillies
Professionals: They do have a former Diamondback in Taijuan Walker, though he won’t be on the playoff roster. They final received in 2008, which wasn’t that way back, however is longer than another groups.
Cons: Philadelphia itself has loved quite a lot of sporting success in recent times, with the Eagles profitable a number of Tremendous Bowls. Philadelphia sports activities followers have a repute. Bryce Harper and Walker Buehler are on the staff. And do we actually wish to know what sort of worldwide cataclysmic occasion would occur if Nick Castellanos hit a house run within the World Sequence?
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Verdict: It’s not the worst factor that would occur, however I don’t see many Diamondbacks followers rooting for the Phillies.
#7: Toronto Blue Jays
Professionals: It’s been a very long time since Max Scherzer was with the Diamondbacks, and he has a number of rings (one earned towards the Diamondbacks) however Daulton Varsho realized his outfield protection from Dave McKay and is arguably the perfect outfield defender within the sport. The Varsho commerce additionally received the Diamondbacks Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., so it was a worthwhile commerce. The Blue Jays haven’t received a championship since 1993.
Cons: However even with out the Blue Jays or Maple Leafs profitable titles, there’s been loads of success. The Argonauts are the defending Gray Cup champions, and the Raptors received the NBA just some years in the past. Additionally, whereas most of them had been a very long time in the past, Toronto does have 16 “Large 4” titles and 19 Gray Cups.
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Verdict: In my guide, it’s onerous to really feel a lot animosity in the direction of a staff that has by no means actually competed straight with the Diamondbacks, has gotten performed by Shohei Ohtani when he signed with the Dodgers, and has to compete with the Yankees and Pink Sox of their division.
#6: Cincinnati Reds
Professionals: Terry Francona has had a fantastic yr coming again. He’s pieced collectively a profitable staff out of a gaggle with none excellent gamers. Wade Miley would in all probability get a hoop, however he’s out with damage. Cincinnati (the baseball staff or town as an entire) has not received a championship since 1990, and hasn’t been a powerhouse staff for the reason that Nineteen Seventies.
Cons: Do you wish to hear manner an excessive amount of about Pete Rose doubtlessly going into the Corridor of Fame, regardless of playing and statutory rape? As a result of it’s going to be talked about. Some followers would possibly maintain the rain-affected sport towards the Reds, however that was actually the fault of the umpires.
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Verdict: Pull for them, however be ready to mute the TV when Rose is inevitably mentioned.
#5: San Diego Padres
Professionals: The Padres have by no means received a title, and—except you depend indoor soccer or final frisbee—San Diego has not received a title in skilled sports activities for the reason that Chargers received the AFL in 1963. The Padres are a small market staff going for it.
Cons: They’re additionally a division rival, and have a few fairly unlikeable gamers.
Verdict: Rooting for the Padres feels decidedly meh. It doesn’t really feel unhealthy, but it surely doesn’t really feel good, both.
#4: Milwaukee Brewers
Professionals: Milwaukee is a small market. They’re a smartly-constructed, well-rounded staff. They’ve by no means received a championship, though Milwaukee did a number of years again and beat Phoenix in doing so. Arizona State followers would possibly wish to see Pat Murphy win.
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Cons: The one Diamondbacks on the 40-man roster are Shelby Miller and Jordan Montgomery, and they’re each out with damage. Plus, I doubt many Diamondbacks followers keep in mind both of them fondly. There was the Ryan Braun PED-enhanced season that took out the Diamondbacks, however that’s mitigated considerably by returning the favor and eliminating the Brewers of their house park in 2023. Arizona followers would possibly wish to see Pat Murphy lose.
Verdict: Personally, I’d somewhat the Brewers win than most groups. However I utterly perceive the other perspective.
#3: Detroit Tigers
Professionals: There are quite a lot of Diamondback connections. Tyler Holton and Paul Sewald are on the roster. A.J. Hinch is within the dugout, and Kirk Gibson is one among their broadcasters and a franchise legend. Tarik Skubal is likely one of the greatest pitchers within the sport proper now (and was as soon as drafted by the Diamondbacks). They final received in 1984, and town itself hasn’t received since 2008, though Cincinnati laughs at that.
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Cons: Maybe it’s the collapse down the stretch, or the scandals within the entrance workplace, however they only don’t appear as likeable as they did final yr.
Verdict: I’d be completely completely happy to see the Tigers go on a run, however not as completely happy as with a number of the different groups.
#2: Cleveland Guardians
Professionals: They’re a small market staff. They’ve the longest championship drought within the sport; it’s lasted so lengthy that Satchel Paige was a rookie on that staff. (OK, he was a really outdated rookie, however nonetheless.) They’ve the most effective gamers within the sport proper now in Jose Ramirez, who has a really actual likelihood to change into simply the second 400-400 participant in historical past. They’ve former Diamondback Slade Cecconi. Bo Naylor, brother of Josh, is on the roster. Steven Kwan is a diminutive left-handed outfielder who has some similarity on the plate to Geraldo Perdomo.
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Cons: I’m reaching right here, however Austin Hedges? Or the truth that they had been in a position to end their miraculous run whereas the Diamondbacks crashed? It’s onerous to discover a purpose to dislike this staff.
Verdict: It could be enjoyable. It could even be unlikely. It could be decidedly 2023 Diamondbacks vibes in the event that they by some means made it to the Sequence.
#1: Seattle Mariners
Professionals: They’ve by no means received a pennant, not to mention a World Sequence. They’ve superior to the ALCS simply twice (in 1995 and 2001). They’ve probably the most connections to the Diamondbacks; along with Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor, there’s Dominic Canzone, Ryan Bliss (though he’s on the IL), Carlos Vargas, and Gabe Speier. The final of these by no means performed for the Diamondbacks, however he was acquired from the Braves within the ill-fated Shelby Miller deal. He was flipped for Jon Jay in 2018, the third time he was traded earlier than he made his debut. And there’s Cal Raleigh, who I consider ought to win the AL MVP for hitting 60 house runs as a catcher. It additionally looks like quite a lot of Diamondbacks followers just like the Mariners (and vice-versa) whether or not that’s as a result of each are western groups that typically are missed, or for an additional purpose.
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Cons: Provided that the Diamondbacks aren’t in it, there’s actually no adverse to Seattle profitable it. One might argue that town itself has loved its fair proportion of success, with the Seahawks, though their lone championship was over a decade in the past now. They’re a soccer powerhouse, with their MLS and NWSL groups each profitable many championships, however that doesn’t register on almost the identical degree.
Verdict: This must occur.
Subsequent Up
Some issues to search for on this house over the approaching months: a have a look at the state of the 40-man roster, who is perhaps added to guard them from the Rule 5 draft, and who is perhaps non-tendered. Additionally, some stats from this previous season.