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A brisk start to the series in San Diego, with an easy 8-0 victory, came rapidly undone from the first inning on Tuesday, when Zac Gallen allowed a three-run home-run. This was followed by an all-round ugly game on Wednesday, where the pitching, defense and offense
all had their struggles. Despite occasional flashes of competence, with the hoped-for reinforcements not arriving, it seems increasingly like Arizona might head into the trade deadline as sellers. There are just too many holes. We have one active starting pitcher with an ERA+ even at 90, are at or near league-worst in offensive production from three positions, and the much-improved bullpen is still only average.
But which one position is the biggest problem? That was this week’s survey question, and it ended up being a two-horse race.
Eighty-six percent of the votes went either for first-base or Gallen as the biggest issue, with an almost even split – Zac coming out just ahead. There’s no doubt that both have been a real problem. Gallen is at -1.6 bWAR, the worst figure by an Arizona pitcher since Chad Qualls decide to speed-run sucking in 2010, racking up -2.2 bWAR in only 38 innings (the amazing thing is, Qualls played seven more seasons in the majors). No previous qualified starter in D-backs history has had an ERA+ even of eighty. Brandon Pfaadt’s 81 last year was the worst. Gallen? He currently sits at 68, and fans basically dread his next outing.
Being the worst in franchise history is one thing. But currently, the OPS produced by Arizona’s 1B is the lowest in over a hundred years. Over the three weeks since I first raised this on June 18, things have somehow got worse, the OPS dropping seven further points to .554. The 2026 D-backs have now gone below the 1920 Pirates (.557) and in the live-ball era are above only the 1920 A’s (.530). And in 1920, the MLB-wide OPS at first was 46 points lower than in 2026 (.734 vs. .780). Though Jack pointed out, Pavin Smith is more a symptom of the problem than the cause, since he has only 14% of the plate-appearances at first.
Identifying the problem is one thing. Solving it, however, is quite another. Torey more or less has to run Gallen out there every fifth day, because of the lack of alternatives – especially with Michael Soroka and Ryne Nelson out, and Corbin Burnes not coming back any time soon. The same goes for first-base. If you look at the last two months, Jose Fernandez, Ildemaro Vargas and Pavin Smith – the three most-used 1B this season – all have an OPS starting with a “4”. As Jack said, we have absolutely no clue who will be manning the position for Arizona in 2027. I’m beginning to think the team has decided to ignore next year, and hope it goes away.
