Okay. So here is how I would sum up the Diamondbacks' 2025 season, and it's through Brandon Pfaadt. Brandon Pfaadt, one of the team's most populous starters, finished the season with a record of 13-9. Considering how meaningless the win stat is now that people leave midway through the fifth inning, it's very good that someone, even for a team just a hair under .500, could get to 13 wins. But otherwise, Pfaadt's season was a failure, with a 5.25 ERA and a 1.330 WHIP. How could something look so good on the surface but be so bad at the core? Well...this team found a way.
Zac Gallen started all 33 games, but it was his most wobbly material so far. Ketel Marte, Gerardo Perdomo, Corbin Carroll and Eugenio Suarez had incredible seasons, but the pitching could not keep this team in the race, especially without a full season from Corbin Burnes. And thus they sold at the deadline, wound up in fourth, and still seem to be shopping Marte. I do think this team still has a future as a competitor, but man that division is tough.
As for Pfaadt, his fundamentals aren't bad, and he still struck out 147, second behind Gallen, but this just wasn't a very good year for him. Thankfully he's still young.
2026 Prediction: Less wins, but a much lower ERA. Bounce-back on the horizon.
The D-Backs also have Eduardo Rodriguez, who, once again, failed to get anywhere near the heights of his Red Sox tenure. He appeared in 29 games, but went 9-9 with a 5.02 ERA and 143 Ks. Back in Detroit, you'd stomach a bad season from Rodriguez knowing a good one was perhaps along the horizon, but I don't know if the bungee theory really works anymore.
2026 Prediction: Well...he's got two more years left on this contract...and it would help immensely if one of them wasn't complete ass. Perhaps that's next.
Pavin Smith has remained one of the handier unsung pieces of these Diamondbacks teams, and this year he was a great help as a regular DH. He hit .258 with 28 RBIs and 8 homers, amounting to a .797 OPS. Smith has always been a good clutch guy, and this year was no anomaly. Sadly he missed a ton of time at the end of the year due to injuries.
2026 Prediction: Sets a new personal record for home runs, which shouldn't be too difficult, as his current mark is 11.
And after Suarez was traded to Seattle, fill-in 2nd base guy Blaze Alexander moved over to third to fill the gap there, and did honestly pretty well for himself. Offensively he's only a .230 hitter with the occasional contact perk, but defensively he was an improvement over the more power-prone Suarez. It's looking like he'll be the answer there going forward.
2026 Prediction: A much better season at the plate, enough to ensure he stays around in that spot in the depth chart.
Coming Tomorrow- Unsurprisingly there are, in fact, a handful of Dodgers remaining.
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