I think it’s safe to say that the 2025 Arizona Diamondbacks season is not going to be one which will be particularly fondly remembered. It was, perhaps, the biggest roller-coaster of a year that I can recall, from the high of signing Corbin Burnes, to the low of… well, losing Corbin Burnes. Even the last couple of months would be enough to give anyone whiplash, as the team sold off at the deadline, then went on an unexpected tear to go right back into the thick of things, before losing their last five
games to post their first losing record since 2022. That Perdomo bunt is going to give Torey Lovullo a few sleepless nights over the winter, I imagine.
Before we get into that, I do want to offer my sincere thanks to a few people. Firstly, the “official” writers: 1AZfan1, Ben, Dano, Joshua, ish95, James, Jeff, Justin, Makakilo, Preston and Wes. They are the engine room who power the SnakePit, and this year, had to cope with a dramatic change on the back end of the creative process. Also, the not-so official writers: people like DbacksEurope, Jack, Michael and samath, who may not have been formally on the roster, but whose contributions in posts, comments, and other ways, were greatly appreciated. I also want to thank all our Sunday recappers, for their fresh perspectives: I hope they were as fun to do (mostly!) as they were to write.
Finally, there’s everyone who wrote a comment, voted in a poll, took part in a Sporcle, or simply spent the entire season lurking here. The site now having completed twenty years, my mission remains the same: to be the best fan forum on the Internet, combining original information and discussion in a way nowhere else can match. It’s knowing that people read our work, from the sublime analysis to the ridiculous stupidity, which keep me (and, I suspect, most of the staff) coming back. Well, that and a desperate hope we will get to document the team winning the World Series again. But I’m not holding my breath!
That said, here are the ten things I’ll immediately take away from the 2025 season, in whatever order they come to my mind.
Geraldo Perdomo, MVP candidate
Signing Perdomo to a long-term extension may prove to be the best deal in franchise history. He came in with a career OPS+ of 84, and a decent, rather than anything, 6.5 bWAR over four hundred games. But this season he took off in all aspects, from the plate to clubhouse leadership. Geraldo, earning $2.55 million this year (none of it deferred), deserves to be the runner-up in National League MVP voting, to some guy earning $70 million (almost all of it deferred). As ercil mentioned in today’s GDT, if he is not your new favorite Diamondback… Well, you simply haven’t been paying attention.
Injuries. Injuries everywhere [/insert Buzz Lightyear meme]
The Diamondbacks end the season with nine members of the 40-man roster on the extended 60-day injured list. Sure, every team has to content with health issues over the course of the season. But there were times where it felt like Arizona were trying to fill up their loyalty card at Dr. Neal ElAttrache’s Snip ‘n’ Save [slogan: Tommy’s Johned, While U Wait] Our best starting pitcher, our closer and our backup closer were among those to go under the knife. Would the team have made the post-season otherwise? It certainly did not make things any easier, that’s for absolute certain.
Mike Hazen and Torey Lovullo’s seats warm
Ken Kendrick opened his pocket-book, giving the team a record high payroll for the second consecutive year. Last season, they missed the playoffs, but at least improved the wins. This year, their final record was nine games worse. Hazen crafted a superb line-up, again well above average. But the failures in pitching, with both the starting rotation, and Hazen’s repeated inability to construct an even average bullpen, won’t be tolerated forever. I think Lovullo has been an excellent manager, despite all the second-guessing he gets. But if Hazen goes, the manager is too closely tied to him to escape.
The rise of Ryne Nelson
Ok, who had Nelson as leading the team in pitching bWAR this year? He couldn’t even crack the rotation out of spring training, working long relief out of the pen. But when the bell rang, he answered the call. Over 23 starts, Ryne had a 3.16 ERA, and questions about whether his future was as a starting pitcher or in the bullpen seem to have been categorically answered. Indeed, right now, he deserves to be the Opening Day starter for the D-backs in 2026, though there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge in that department, between now and then.
The fall of everyone else
Zac Gallen, Brandon Pfaadt and Eduardo Rodriguez combined to make 95 starts with an ERA above five (5.02). None of them had an ERA+ better than ninety, as the rotation, expected to be a strength of the D-backs this year, turned into a weakness. Arizona’s starting pitching ranked 22nd by fWAR going into today’s game, which certainly won’t have helped. Gallen and Merrill Kelly may or may not be back, and there seems to be precious little help coming from down in the farm system. Crafting a competitive rotation for 2026 could be the biggest challenge Mike Hazen faces this winter.
Ketel and Corbin remain studs
The core of the Diamondbacks, as far as position players go, looks solid. Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll both had excellent seasons, fully deserving their All-Star selections. Like Perdomo, they are both locked into team control for a number of years to come, and should continue to be contenders for further honors. Marte’s offensive numbers were close to a career high, and his defense was rarely the problem it had sometimes been. Carroll was simply fun to watch, legging out a franchise record number of triples, and showcasing a much improved arm which ranked him top in the NL for outfield assists.
The bullpen 🤢
I am almost tempted to leave it at the above, and say no more. But it was going so well, too… However, after the losses of Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk for the season, the team struggled to close out ballgames. As soon as that happened, the Arizona bullpen went 2-8 with an ugly 6.39 ERA in the month of May, and all told, they lost an MLB-high nine games when leading at the start of the ninth inning. At season’s end, Arizona had no pitcher with an intact elbow and more than three saves. The D-backs were 7-12 in extra innings (albeit in part due to an inability to score the Manfred Man) and 21-28 in one run games. Merely an even record there would have made a huge difference. But given the performance in Hazen’s tenure, this should be no surprise.
The Lawlar conundrum
After a cup of coffee in 2023, it was expected that this would be the year Jordan Lawlar would take over at the hot corner. However, coming up in May and promptly going 0-for-19 with nine strikeouts reminded everyone that he was still only 22 years old, and might not be ready for prime time. He then missed more time with a hamstring injury. When he returned in late August, the bat did show signs of coming around: after finally notching his first hit on September 2, he went 12-for-36 the rest of the way, with seven doubles. But the defense was terrible, largely relegating him to DH duties, and will have to improve greatly if he’s to be the answer at third next season.
The revolving door
At season’s end, Arizona had no pitcher with an intact elbow and more than three saves. 17 different relief pitchers had recorded one save, easily the highest tally in the history of the majors. 41 different pitchers were used all told, not including the mop-up appearance of Jose Herrera. But it wasn’t just on the mound that we had a cast of thousands. 24 different position players also made appearances, with only half-a-dozen D-backs reaching even 95 appearances. The article listing all the changes to the 40-man roster, will shortly be turned by Peter Jackson into a trilogy of movies. The traditional Sporcle asking you to remember everyone, will be fun…
Hope for the future
There’s no doubt, the season was a disappointment, despite the team being in contention for a playoff spot, up until almost the final weekend. Hazen will have his work cut out for him to address the roster needs before next Opening Day. But it’s certainly not an impossible task, and we have far more to look forward to than, say, fans of the Rockies, who finished the year with 119 losses and the worst run differential in modern baseball history. Arizona’s hole is nowhere near as terrible, and with a little better luck (especially on that health front), I’m hopeful they will again be playing meaningful baseball in September 2026.
