Recapping moments that defined D-backs' 2026 season

This story was excerpted from Steve Gilbert’s D-backs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Every year I promise myself I'm going to keep a running list of memorable moments from the season so, at the end when I write about them, I'll have them ready to go instead of having to rely on memory and the notes made in my scorebook.

And yet, it always gets lost in the shuffles of airline/hotel reservations, expense reports and other parts of the chaotic baseball season.

I say all that as a setup for the list below. Instead of Top Moments or Best Moments, let's just call it moments I thought were important during the season. Feel free to reach out to me with thoughts on what I might have missed …

March 30 -- Immaculate Inning, Part I
Michael Soroka throws an immaculate fifth inning against the Tigers at Chase Field. It was Soroka's first start in an Arizona uniform, and the first glimpse we got of just how good he could be this year.

March 31 -- Welcome to The Show, Jose Fernandez
Jose Fernandez hits a pair of home runs in his big league debut. All debuts are memorable for the player, but this one was next level.

May 15 -- Career first for Merrill
Complete games are rarer and rarer these days, and even more so when they come at Coors Field, but that's where Merrill Kelly tossed his first career complete game in a 9-1 win over Rockies.

May 19 -- Late-inning magic
The Diamondbacks rallied for four runs in the ninth to beat the Giants on Ketel Marte's walk-off three-run homer.

June 4 -- Another Ketel game-winner
Marte hit a walk-off homer against the Dodgers’ Tanner Scott as D-backs won, 3-2.

July 14 -- A first for Eduardo
In his first All-Star Game, Eduardo Rodriguez threw a scoreless inning for the NL. After struggling for the first two years of his four-year free-agent contract, Rodriguez had a year to remember in 2026, starting with pitching Venezuela to the World Baseball Classic title in March.

July 19 -- Something is happening here
Down 7-0 after five, the Diamondbacks rallied and walked off the Cardinals, 8-7, in 10 innings. It was the continuation of good play before the break, and it began to look like the Diamondbacks might just have something going.

July 20 -- Nolan No. 2,000
It was fun to watch Nolan Arenado rebound this year, and after thinking he might not get to 2,000 hits just a season ago, he talked about what it meant to him to reach the milestone.

Aug. 7 -- Walking off the Dodgers (again!)
Down 3-2, the Diamondbacks walked off the Dodgers in the ninth on rookie Ryan Waldschmidt's two-run homer.

Aug. 17 -- Ketel's no-show
This was one of the most bizarre stories I've covered in my years on the beat. Marte didn't show up for a game at Fenway Park -- and no one knew why.

Aug. 25 -- Waldschmidt walk-off, Part II
Down 4-0 after seven, the Diamondbacks rallied and walked off the Cubs on Waldschmidt's two-run homer.

Sept. 14 -- There's a reason they were called the "Arizona Comebacks" this year
Corbin Carroll got into the action with a two-run homer that walked off the Marlins, 8-7.

Sept. 19 -- Pavin Smith has his moment
This was one of my favorite moments of the season, because Pavin Smith is a genuinely good human who had a tough year and endured a lot of online hate for it. To see him get his moment as the Diamondbacks tried to stay alive in the Wild Card chase was a fun story to write. His pinch-hit, two-run homer walked off the Yankees, 5-3.

Sept. 27 -- Eliminated
The Diamondbacks made an amazing run during the last week of the season, winning six straight at one point, and it looked like they might just catch the Phillies, but their dream came to an end in the seventh inning of Game 162 as the Phillies closed out the Rays.

I know there has been a lot of fan angst about the Diamondbacks coming up short of the postseason, and I get it. Still, there were many moments (some I'm sure I've missed in this newsletter) that made for a memorable season. There's also something to be said for not being eliminated until the season's final game.