The Diamondbacks’ Opening Day roster has come into focus. What do you think?
Diamondbacks News
Corbin Burnes’ meticulous routine leads DBacks to alter rotation by Nick Piecoro [AZ Central]
“The reason why I’m here today and the pitcher I am is because of those routines,” Burnes said. “And I brought that up (to the organization). I said, ‘The reason I’m here, the reason you guys signed me, the reason you guys gave me this contract is because of this process and that routine. Is that something we want to change the first start of my D-Backs’ tenure?’ And that was a pretty astounding, ‘No.’ So this was the option we had.”
D-Backs’ Mike Hazen, Justin Martinez Discuss Contract Extension by Alex D’Agostino [SI]
“We wanted to keep this group together, the young group that we have assembled here on our team that has talent and the makeup and the work ethic to want to keep around, and the sense of putting them together and ensuring that they’re here on this team, within this community for a long period of time is very important to us,” Hazen opened with.
As is well-known, Hazen, manager Torey Lovullo and the Diamondbacks’ organization look for the character of the person, rather than the talent alone. Hazen spoke about the positive impact of Martinez’s work ethic and personality.
Diamondbacks’ latest roster moves confirm 2 realities fans were expecting by Michael McDermott [Venom Strikes]
With Pfaadt winning the fifth starter spot, the question was what would happen with the other pitchers. Jordan Montgomery and Ryne Nelson will open the season in the bullpen, per the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro.
It’s unclear which pitcher would be first pushed into the rotation in the event of an injury. Nelson is further stretched out than Montgomery, throwing 52 pitches in his relief outing against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
{Ed. Note: Emphasis mine}
Diamondbacks crack The Athletic’s MLB awards predictions by Tyler Drake [Arizona Sports]
On top of individual awards, The Athletic also got writers’ thoughts on pennant and World Series winners.
In both categories, the D-backs made an appearance with a pair of votes in each.
As for which team led the way in the two? The defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who received 16 NL pennant votes and 14 World Series nods.
The D-backs and Dodgers weren’t the only NL West team to make the voting, either, with the San Diego Padres earning a vote in both categories.
Around the League
2025 Positional Power Rankings: Bullpen (No. 1-15) by Eric Longenhagen [FanGraphs]
With soft-tossers Ryan Thompson and Joe Mantiply capable of providing pretty low-leverage innings, Arizona’s bullpen is going to need a young arm to take a step forward for this unit to finish top 10 across the league. Due to the team’s starting pitching depth, that has meant shifting former starter Ryne Nelson into the bullpen. There have been times during Nelson’s career when he pumping 94-97 past guys, but he has not been able to sustain that as a starter and he’s been sitting below that this spring. He’s a high-variance element of this group right now, as he needs that extra gear of velocity to be effective. If his stuff doesn’t tick up in relief, it’s possible either Yilber Diaz or Drey Jameson (who is touching triple digits again after coming out of TJ rehab) could provide instant, high-leverage impact in this bullpen, which looks primed to level up in the playoffs because of a couple of role shifts like this.
{Ed. Note: The Diamondbacks’ bullpen was 10th in this particular power ranking.}
Poll: Who Will Win the NL West? by Nick Deeds [MLB Trade Rumors]
Arizona Diamondbacks (89-73)
While the Diamondbacks missed the playoffs by a hair in 2024 when they finished tied with the Mets and Braves for the final two NL Wild Card spots, the 2023 NL champions put together an excellent team in 2024. The Diamondbacks led the majors in runs scored last year, and many core pieces like Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll are back for more this year alongside supporting veterans Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Eugenio Suarez. The losses of Christian Walker and Joc Pederson will certainly sting, but Josh Naylor should help to make up for some of that lost production and it wouldn’t be a shock to see longtime top prospect Jordan Lawlar break into the majors this year, either.
The pitching side of things is where Arizona figures to improve the most over last year. Zac Gallen is now complemented at the top of the Diamondbacks rotation by a co-ace in Corbin Burnes, and Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez should be able to offer far steadier mid-rotation production than they did in injury-marred 2024 campaigns. The club also enjoys a deep group of back-of-the-rotation options, with Brandon Pfaadt set to get the first crack at starting. Should injuries once again complicate matters, Ryne Nelson is one of the best sixth starters in the league and there’s nowhere for Jordan Montgomery to go but up after last year’s disastrous campaign.
{Ed. Note: Of the over 4,700 votes cast at the time I’m compiling this, the D-Backs have received the 3rd most votes behind the Dodgers with 66.6% (yes, really) of the vote and (wait for it…) the Rockies whose 9.4% share barely outpaces the Diamondbacks 9.2%}
Betts, battling illness, takes a turn for the better by Sarah Wexler [MLB]
Betts’ condition has caused him a great deal of frustration, in part because the worst of the symptoms has subsided and his body has felt good, in spite of the vomiting. But the weight loss is significant, as he’s down to 157 pounds from the 175 he weighed at the start of Spring Training. Still, if he can play on Tuesday, then he could well be able to start in the domestic opener against the Tigers on Thursday at Dodger Stadium.
Backup sod on standby for park shared by A’s, Giants’ Triple-A club [ESPN]
Given the unique circumstances of a major league club sharing its ballpark with a minor league affiliate from another franchise — the Sacramento River Cats — contingency plans are in place to maintain the grass quality.
Murray Cook, Major League Baseball’s field consultant and president of BrightView Sports Turf, said both longtime head groundskeepers from the Giants and A’s have been part of efforts to keep the playing surface in top form. In addition, the on-site grounds crew staff has been quadrupled in size, he said.
Question of the Day
Now that the roster has been more or less finalized, what do you think of the decisions by Torey and Hazen? Disagree with Lawlar being in Reno? Or why did we not name a closer? Burnes is pitching fifth?! Maybe Vargas should have made it over Hampson? Or perhaps you think the team nailed it. Grade it and explain in the comments!