Diamondbacks News
First, a PSA that the start times for tonight’s and Wednesday’s games have been moved up to 1pm Arizona time due to expected cold weather.
10 Diamondbacks takeaways from the opening 10 games of the season by Alex Weiner [Arizona Sports]
“Going 5-2 with an offense that’s kind of struggling a little bit. … We got pitching heavy in those wins and that carried us. So, we handed off to one another. When it starts to fire on all cylinders, that’s when we’re gonna really take off,” manager Torey Lovullo said.
Ten games in, and the Diamondbacks are in second place in the National League West with a tough road trip ahead at the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles. Here are 10 early takeaways from 10 games played.
Diamondbacks Veteran Pitcher Elects Free Agency by Alex D’Agostino [SI]
Former Arizona Diamondbacks right-hand reliever Joe Ross has elected free agency, according to the transaction logs on his MLB player page.
Ross had previously been designated for assignment, but he ultimately cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Reno. He will now test his market.
Taking stock of the D-backs through 10 games by Jesse Borek [DBacks.com]
That was some first week and a half of D-backs baseball, wasn’t it? Manager Torey Lovullo’s club has played five one-run games already, tied for the most in the Majors. Arizona also has had a pair of games decided by two runs, giving its 5-5 record a mixed bag type of feel.
D-backs fans are keenly aware of how imperative every game on the schedule can be when it comes to the chance to participate in October, and that it often takes players beyond the current 26-man group. As the team flies East to embark on a nine-game road trip in New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore that opens Tuesday, it’s time to take stock of where things stand after five wins and five losses.
Opposing Hitters Are Watching Michael Soroka, And So Can You! by Michael Baumann [FanGraphs] {Ed. Note: Great article on Soroka worth reading the whole thing, but I want to provide the conclusion of the article here as it provides what may be a factor in the race for the final rotation slot. When looking at batted ball metrics, Soroka has been VERY lucky and Pfaadt has been equally unlucky. Do you think this will impact the race for fifth starter spot?}
Of the 24 batted balls Soroka has allowed through two starts, 11 have come off the bat at 95 mph or higher, and 12 (mostly, but not entirely the same ones) have had an xBA of .400 or higher. But Soroka is either scattering those dangerous batted balls, or his extremely fast outfield is turning them into outs. He has allowed six batted balls with a four-digit xSLG; three of those landed in the glove of either Alek Thomas or Corbin Carroll. There is no substitute for an army of little fast guys.
So we arrive at the disappointing, and yet highly predictable, conclusion to any analysis of a surprising pitcher two starts into the season: We’ll see. Soroka has looked good (and, more rarely and importantly, healthy) so far this year, though the quality of contact allowed and continued lack of swing-and-miss stuff mean we’re probably in for a regression. It’s April; what else did you expect?
Around the League
Hit 24 times by Brewers pitches, Willson Contreras is fed up by Adam McCalvy [MLB]
“We’ve been through this – it’s, what, nine years for me? – it seems like every year,” said Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff. “He’s trying to play a game and he’s trying to get his side fired up. Once I knew what was going on, I wasn’t going to let it affect me on the mound. I knew I had a job to do.”
If the Brewers weren’t backing down, neither was Contreras.
He’s tired of getting buzzed by Brewers pitchers.
“They always say, ‘I’m not trying to hit you.’ That gets old,” Contreras said. “So next time they hit me again, I’m going to take one of them out. That’s the message.”
MLB 2026 watchability index: Ranking most fun teams to watch by David Schoenfield [ESPN]
16. Arizona Diamondbacks (21.5 points)
Star power: 10 | Young talent: 2 | Baseball stuff: 7
Bonus (2.5): +1 for Geraldo Perdomo supplanting Ketel Marte as the most underrated player in baseball, +1 for Corbin Carroll legging out a triple, +0.5 for the “Serpientes” City Connect jerseys
The big three of Carroll, Marte and Perdomo make the Diamondbacks an entertaining watch. They should be a better defensive team this year with Nolan Arenado and Carlos Santana, but the two vets have struggled mightily out of the gate at the plate (one extra-base hit and one RBI through the first 10 games), and that’s not so fun. Zac Gallen has always been one of my favorite pitchers to watch, but his best days might be behind him, as well. Jordan Lawlar is Arizona’s one key young player, but he just fractured his right wrist.
Small Improvements With Big Playoff Implications by Ben Clemens [FanGraphs]. {Ed. Note: Spoiler alert -Diamondbacks stand to add the second-most to their playoff odds in the entire league by upgrading their weakest position (1B, of course) to league average.}
Last week, Dan Szymborski looked at how much a team’s fortunes can change in the first month of the season. That old truism – you can’t win the World Series in April, but you can lose it – turns out to, in fact, be true. Dan’s research found that even teams we think are good – those projected to win 90 or more games – had meaningfully worse results after a bad April, even if their actual talent remained the same.
In other words, those early losses really do count. But I like to look at things from a glass-half-full perspective, so my takeaway was that there’s still plenty of time to fix a bad start, because it’s still early in the season. But how to fix it? That’s a trickier question. Luckily, “that’s a tricky question” is just FanGraphs for “that’s a fun thing to write an article about,” so I’ve got answers for you.
Mets Place Juan Soto on Injured List by Darragh McDonald [MLB Trade Rumors]
The Mets announced that outfielder Juan Soto has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right calf strain. The move is retroactive to April 4th but the club also announced the typical return timeline as two to three weeks. Infielder Ronny Mauricio has been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse as the corresponding move.
The Margins That Win Or Lose Baseball Games by Michael McDermott [Mike’s Hardball Blueprint]
In my very short time covering the Arizona Diamondbacks as credentialed media, manager Torey Lovullo constantly talked about winning the margins in games. Obviously, when you think of margin, a one-run game will be the first thing that comes to mind since runs are the deciding margins for who wins and loses.
But that’s not what Lovullo has ever implied when saying as such. It’s less about the score and finding a way to execute in big situations. A common term he uses is “push moments,” situations that will decide the flow of the game.
