4 D-backs storylines to watch early in the season

Just a few seasons ago, the D-backs were the doormat of the National League, going a paltry 52-110 in 2021. Since then, Arizona has been on the move towards the top of MLB‘s best teams, making the World Series in 2023 and narrowly missing the playoffs in 2024 despite a better regular season record than the year prior. Now, with healthy mix of veteran leadership and youthful exuberance, the D-backs are ready to get things started. The season is about two weeks old now, and it’s time to look at a few trends that have defined the early year so far.

Inconsistent Pitching

The pitching performances have been up and down throughout this early start to the season. As a team, the D-backs have the fourth worst team ERA in the majors so far at 4.74 (update Thursday). This has been highlighted especially by the starting rotation which before Wednesday’s 9-0 victory over Baltimore had a combined ERA of 5.95.

Through two starts so far, Corbin Burnes has not yet lived up to the billing of his offseason mega deal, pitching to a 5.79 ERA and leading the National League in hit batters with two.

While Zac Gallen had an amazing start against the Yankees where he went 6.2 innings and struck out 13, it’s been bookended by an Opening Day start which saw him only last four innings against the Cubs where he was unable to rein in his control with four walks, and his most recent start against the Orioles where he gave up five runs in 4.2 innings, again issuing four walks to just two strikeouts. After inconsistent seasons last year, Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez have pitched to an ERA above 5.00 for the D-backs.

On the bright side, the D-backs are responsible for the sixth-most strikeouts with 113 K’s and the tenth lowest batting average against at .222. Brandon Pfaadt may have turned the corner after going for six shutout innings in the aforementioned 9-0 win against Baltimore.

The bullpen too has been mostly consistent, converting all four save opportunities this year with lefty A.J. Puk and righty Justin Martinez, who recently signed a five-year $18 million extension, each with two saves apiece. Lefty Jalen Beeks has been a revelation after a solid season last year with the Pittsburgh Pirates and intra-division rival Colorado Rockies, and Shelby Miller has been lights out in his six innings so far, not allowing a single hit and just one walk.

Power Surge

In a positive turn of things, the D-backs have been among the best power hitting teams this season. The squad ranks sixth in home runs hit (17), first in doubles (30) and have showcased the wheels a little bit by being tied for sixth in triples hit (2) for a team-wide OPS of .808. They’ve also showcased discipline at the plate by drawing the third most walks in the majors (55) while striking out the second least amount of times (85).

Corbin Carroll has been blazing out of the gates to the tune of a .320/.424/.740 slash line. His five home runs, .740 slugging percentage and 1.164 OPS all lead the National League while his 1.2 wins above replacement leads all of baseball. This is all an encouraging sign for the former Rookie of the Year winner who got off to a slow start to his sophomore campaign last year before turning it on in the second half. Last year it took him until July to reach even three home runs. This year, it took him just eight games to reach the mark.

Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo has also been hot, smacking in a team-leading 13 RBI to begin the year. While this could be a bit of an aberration given there is some luck involved with driving in runs, the underlying numbers suggest Perdomo is a worthy hitter deserving of the extension he signed in Spring Training. According to Baseball Savant, Perdomo ranks as an above average hitter in expected on-base average, expected batting average and expected slugging percentage. In chase percentage and whiff percentage he ranks in the 88th and 99th percentiles respectively, showing an innate knowledge of the strike zone and ability to make contact with pitches.

While the batting average hasn’t quite been there, Eugenio Suárez has hit five homers to start the year, including winning the first NL Player of the Week Award this season. Josh Naylor hasn’t been able to replace the defensive production left behind by Christian Walker‘s departure, but he’s lived up to expectations on the offensive ends of the ball with an OPS+ of 160 and hit his first home run of the year on Wednesday. Pavin Smith and Randal Grichuk have done their parts at DH against righties and lefties respectively, and Alek Thomas is batting .308.

Marte’s Injury

It’s no secret Ketel Marte has been instrumental to the D-backs’ success since his arrival in the 2016 offseason, especially the last two seasons with the World Series appearance in 2023 and when Marte finished third in MVP voting in 2024. He’s as committed to the team as ever, recently inking a six-yera $116.5 million extension.

His 2025 was off to smooth start, slashing .346/.469/.462 with more walks than strikeouts in a limited sample size. Unfortunately, Marte came up gimpy as he was preparing to round second for a what could have been a triple, and it was immediately clear he’d pulled a muscle. He was promptly taken out for pinch runner Garrett Hampson and soon after placed on the 10-day IL with a hamstring strain.

“He’s going to be out for a series of weeks, there’s no timeline on it,” manager Torey Lovullo said on Marte’s injury. “There’s no timeline on it, we just got to let him heal and recover.”

Arguably the best second baseman in the game, Marte’s presence will be sorely missed. On offense, he grades out as one of the best hitters in baseball with plenty of red on his Baseball Savant page. There hasn’t been much data so far this year on his defensive metrics, but Marte graded out as a well above-average fielder last year with eight outs above average, ranking him in the 93rd percentile of MLB.

To fill in for him, the D-backs have called up Tim Tawa from Triple-A Reno. Tawa has been an excellent hitter at the minor league level, hitting 31 homers last year and is off to a 3-homer and .391 average start to his minor league season, but the real reinforcements need to come from those already entrenched within the lineup.

For the D-backs, this means Carroll, Perdomo, Smith and others needs to continue his hot start. Others such as Jake McCarthy, hitting 1-26, and Lourdes Gurriel, hitting a measly .152, will need to up their games to help fill Marte’s absence.

Defensive Dysfunction

The D-backs have a bottom-20 ranked defense by fielding percentage. Misplays all around the diamond have cost the team runs and wins this year. There are only two players so far this year who grade out as above average in terms of outs above average.

Luckily one of them, Geraldo Perdomo, actually ranks as the best in that category with four outs above average, but the rest of the team either rank as zeroes or negatives, including Suárez who is last on the team at -2. The most glaring issues have been on plays where the D-backs have had to flip the ball to first base. As a team, the D-backs have -4 defensive runs saved, contributing in large part to their 7-6 record and fourth place positioning in the NL West.