What kinds of personal or franchise milestones might we witness this season?
For my very first column upon joining the staff here at the SnakePit, I compiled the statistical milestones we might see through the remainder of the season. In hindsight, it would have been a more appropriate article at the start of the season rather than the beginning of June, but it certainly can’t be helped at this point. And with exactly a week separating us from meaningful Diamondbacks’ baseball for the first time in nearly six months, I thought it might be worthwhile to correct that mistake from last year. As a reminder, this list obviously won’t be comprehensive and will focus more on the round numbers that can be so satisfying for fans and players alike.
Eugenio Suarez hitting 300 Home runs
Remarkably, less than a year ago, Suarez looked more likely to be DFA’d by the team rather than have his contract option picked up for 2025. On June 26th, his slash line had fallen all the way down to .192/.274/.312 through the first 80 games of the season and he looked completely lost at the plate. But over the final 82 games, Suarez posted one of the most impressive turnarounds for an individual player – compiling a .308/.356/.601 slash line and walloping 24 home runs in that period. Unsurprisingly, that kind of performance prompted the D-Backs to pick up his contract option to man the hot corner while they await the arrival of Jordan Lawlar. That legendary second half left the longtime veteran at 276 career homers – amazingly slightly ahead of future Hall of Famer Mookie Betts – and perfectly within reach of 300 career home runs. Assuming he stays true to his full-season average around 30 homers, he would clear that hurdle with room to spare and place himself alongside luminaries like Rogers Hornsby and our very own Steve Finley. In the unlikely event that he was able to replicate that second-half performance across a full season, he could easily launch himself into the strata of Matt Holliday or George Brett. Regardless, it should be a fun stat to watch and hopefully celebrate at some point this season.
Zac Gallen reaching 1,000 Innings Pitched
The newly-announced Opening Day starter, Gallen represents the closest thing to a “homegrown” ace the team has had since Brandon Webb in the mid to late 2000s. Now entering his final year of team control, the young righty will be looking to set himself up for a strong free agency in the offseason while being the one or two punch of the Arizona rotation alongside Corbin Burnes this season. Admittedly, this milestone would be a bit of a stretch as the New Jersey native has only eclipsed the necessary ~ 185 IP mark for a single season twice – in 2022 and 2023. Unsurprisingly, those two seasons still represent the high water marks for Gallen when he appeared in the top-five of Cy Young voting at the end of each of those years. I suspect that he will have no shortage of motivation this year to prove that last season was an aberration rather than part of a larger pattern of decline while earning the Opening Day start automatically puts him into a stronger position to hit this mark.
Corbin Carroll collecting his 500th Career Hit
Much like Suarez, Carroll had to rescue his 2024 season after hitting his offensive nadir on June 5th with a .192/.278/.279 slash line. While Carroll wasn’t able to reach the heights of Suarez’s resurgence, through the end of the season he looked much better and posted a .255/.347/.518 line across the final 99 games of the campaign. Admittedly, even with an excellent spring performance (.387/.441/.871 slash line), collecting the necessary 176 hits would be a bit of a stretch – but certainly not that much of one. In his Rookie of the Year campaign, he had 161 knocks and had 93 hits in that latter stretch of 2024, which would work out to 152 hits across a full season. He’s also still just 24 years old, still developing and maturing, and could have another gear lurking underneath if his mechanical tweaks are actually meaningful. Outside of Ketel Marte, Carroll likely represents the next most important position player on the team and his performance will have an outsized impact on the team’s success this season. I’m confident the youngster is up to the task.