That was some first week and a half of D-backs baseball, wasn’t it? Manager Torey Lovullo’s club has played five one-run games already, tied for the most in the Majors. Arizona also has had a pair of games decided by two runs, giving its 5-5 record a mixed bag type of feel.
D-backs fans are keenly aware of how imperative every game on the schedule can be when it comes to the chance to participate in October, and that it often takes players beyond the current 26-man group. As the team flies East to embark on a nine-game road trip in New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore that opens Tuesday, it’s time to take stock of where things stand after five wins and five losses.
Stock up: Starting pitching
If anything has been true about the first 10 games for the 2026 Diamondbacks, it’s that the old axiom “you can never have too much starting pitching” has been vital. Zac Gallen, Ryne Nelson, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt and Michael Soroka have teamed up to post a 3.29 ERA (fifth-best in the National League) with a .216 opponents’ average against (third-best in the NL).
It’s all very exciting to consider when factoring in that Merrill Kelly (intercostal nerve irritation) will likely rejoin the group in the coming weeks and former Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes (Tommy John surgery) could do the same down the stretch.
Confidence in the starting staff shouldering the load becomes imperative because …
Stock down: Bullpen
… things haven’t looked great once the bullpen door swings open. The relief corps’ 6.50 ERA ranks as the worst in the National League and the second worst in the Majors, behind only Tampa Bay (7.98). While that figure comes with the caveat of Thursday’s drubbing at the hands of the Braves (which featured catcher James McCann getting some work in on the mound), the group has run just a 59.2 percent left-on-base rate (third lowest in the Majors) and a 166 ERA-, according to Fangraphs.
But much like the rotation, there are reinforcements on the horizon: A.J. Puk (left elbow surgery) and Justin Martinez (Tommy John surgery) are both expected back at some point this summer, which would significantly raise the group’s floor.
Stock up: Defense
The beauty of baseball is that stats often can’t be viewed solely in a vacuum. The starting pitching’s low ERA despite plenty of hard contact (their 43.3 percent hard-hit rate is tops in the Majors) can largely be attributed to the fact that the guys with gloves behind them can really pick it.
Or, in more technical parlance: the D-backs lead the Majors with 15 Defensive Runs Saved. Alek Thomas leads the Majors with four individual DRS, while Ketel Marte joins him as one of just seven players at three or higher thus far. Not to mention the club has a pair of Gold Glovers in third baseman Nolan Arenado and catcher Gabriel Moreno, along with Corbin Carroll, who led all right fielders with 9 Outs Above Average in 2025.
Stock down: Offense
There have been timely knocks that have swung the pendulum, but overall, the D-backs have scuffled to the tune of a combined .271 on-base percentage, the third-lowest mark in the Majors.
Coupled with the fact they’re walking very infrequently (7.4 percent, tied for second lowest in MLB), they’re also generating few run-scoring opportunities with an 80 wRC+ (fifth lowest in MLB). Fortunately, their collective .245 BABIP is third lowest, indicative of a change of fortunes to come -- plus, any lineup with an All-Star triumvirate of Marte, Carroll and Geraldo Perdomo isn’t bound to stay quiet for long.
“We got pitching-heavy in those wins, and that carried us,” Lovullo said. “We hand it off to one another. When it starts to fire on all cylinders, that's when we're going to really take off.”
Stock up: The Farm
The core of modern Triple-A lineups often falls into one of two buckets: veterans looking to get their swing right before returning to The Show (see Ildemaro Vargas or Trey Mancini in 2025) or prospects banging on the big league door. Reno has very much enjoyed the latter thus far in ‘26.
Ryan Waldschmidt (Arizona’s No. 1 prospect), Tommy Troy (No. 4) and LuJames Groover (No. 10) have formed a formidable three-headed monster, impressing in their own respective ways through the first nine contests. Waldschmidt has looked excellent in center field, while hitting six balls in excess of 101 mph. Troy has four multihit games to his credit, while Groover has a pair of four-hit games under his belt.