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.
As we prepare for the season's final month, let's look at some things fans will want to keep their eyes on. I put it in chronological order, not in order of importance:
Aug 27-29: Young pitchers get opportunity
With the injuries sustained by the Arizona rotation, and a scheduling quirk, several young Diamondbacks pitchers will get a chance to pitch in important games.
The Diamondbacks have a strange four-game series with the Giants. Originally scheduled to go Thursday-Sunday, the series had to be adjusted because the Giants have a makeup game to play against the Braves in Atlanta on Monday.
Therefore, the teams will play single games Thursday and Friday, followed by a day-night doubleheader on Saturday.
Jose Cabrera got the first chance to show what he could do in starting Thursday's game after being promoted from Triple-A Reno. It is his second stint with the Diamondbacks this year.
Friday, lefty Kohl Drake is expected to be called up from Reno to start. It is his second stint with the Diamondbacks, and this will be his fifth start. In his previous four starts, he worked 16 2/3 innings with a 5.40 ERA.
Saturday, Merrill Kelly will start one of the two games while left-hander Mitch Bratt will be called up from Reno as the extra player for the doubleheader and start the other game.
Bratt was sent down to Reno last week after his second stint with the team. Usually a pitcher has to remain in the Minors for 15 days after being demoted unless there's an injury, but there is an exception for a player called up as
the extra player in a doubleheader.
"They did a great job when we went through the July period with all the injuries we took on, and they're going to have another run here, where they're going to need to carry us this weekend," GM Mike Hazen said.
Aug. 31: The return of Ketel Marte
It's been well chronicled that Marte did not show up at Fenway Park on Aug. 17, which landed him on the restricted list.
A few days later, he was transferred to the 10-day injured list; the first game he is eligible to return is Monday, when the Diamondbacks open a three-game series against the Phillies at Chase Field.
Marte, who played in a bridge camp game -- a simulated Minor League rehab game held at the team's Spring Training facility -- on Thursday, is expected to be in the lineup for the series opener with the Phillies.
"He's playing, he's working hard rehabbing," Hazen said. "I'm anticipating he's going to come back ready to hit the ground running and play hard. And you know, we need that talent in our lineup. And my expectation is he's going to be here, motivated to make a push."
Sept. 4-6: Return of Corbin Burnes
Since signing a six-year, $210 million contract before the 2025 season, Corbin Burnes has made just 11 starts for the Diamondbacks.
That's because the right-hander injured his elbow early in June last season and required Tommy John surgery. Burnes was making good progress in his rehab and hoped to return around the All-Star break this year before a shoulder injury set him back.
Burnes will start Saturday for Triple-A Reno, and if all goes well, he is on track to start one of the games against the Astros in Houston.
Burnes will not be fully built up by then, so he may only go three or four innings, but the Diamondbacks will take that to get him back in the rotation.
Sept. 7-9: Return of Zac Gallen
Gallen re-signed with the Diamondbacks just after Spring Training got underway, and it was a struggle, as he compiled a 6.34 ERA over 19 starts.
Right elbow inflammation forced him onto the injured list on July 9 and the team moved him to the 60-day IL to open up a roster spot, meaning he can't return until Sept. 7 at the earliest.
Gallen is scheduled to start Sunday for Reno and then likely start one of the games against the Royals in Kansas City on Sept. 7-9.
Sept. 18-20: 25th Anniversary
It'll be a big weekend at Chase Field with the Yankees in town. Not only will that series be a big test for the Diamondbacks against one of the American League's best teams, but it will also mark a celebration of the 2001 team, which beat the Yankees in a thrilling seven-game World Series.
Sept. 25-27: Final Showdown
The Diamondbacks travel to Petco Park to finish the 2026 season with a three-game series against the Padres, the team they are fighting with for the NL's final Wild Card spot.
Two years ago at Chase Field, the Padres took two of three games in a season-ending series, and the Diamondbacks failed to make the postseason on a three-team tiebreaker.
Last year, the Padres swept the Diamondbacks in a three-game season-ending series and eliminated Arizona from the postseason chase.