The 2026 D-backs have struggled to get going with a 22-23 record.
Arizona has been outscored by 17 runs and sits 4 1/2 games back of a Wild Card spot. It’s not hard to pinpoint some of the club’s struggles thus far, which centers around many of their top players not performing near career levels.
With that in mind, let’s look at five key D-backs players experiencing early-season struggles, reasons for optimism for those players and why we should be potentially worried.
The following numbers are entering Sunday’s games.
Ketel Marte, 2B
Reasons for optimism: 42 sluggish games to start the season (.637 OPS) is minuscule compared to Marte’s extensive track record of success. From 2019-25, Marte’s .873 OPS was tied with Corey Seager for the 11th best mark among qualified players, while he ranked 20th in FanGraphs’ version of Wins Above Replacement. Marte was as good as ever from 2024-25 (.913 OPS and 10.9 WAR) and his expected stats suggest that he’s been unlucky so far: his .285 wOBA is 59 points lower than his .344 expected wOBA. He’s still just 32 years old and many of his contact quality measures are still strong.
Reasons for concern: While his contact quality is good, it’s a tick below where he was the last few seasons. After running a career-best 13.5 percent barrel rate last year, it’s at 9.6 percent this season. The bigger worry, though, is the plate discipline: his walk rate has dropped to 7.2 percent, the lowest it’s been since 2020. Marte’s chase rate has skyrocketed from 24.8 percent last year to 34.7 percent this season, the fifth largest jump of any qualifying hitter this season.
Zac Gallen, RHP
Reasons for optimism: Gallen has a 5.65 ERA in nine starts but he still has plenty of time to turn it around. The velocity and pitch movement are largely in line with his career norms and he’s still only 30, so there aren’t many physical reasons to fret too much. Even with the decline he’s shown in recent years, he’s never been this bad, and some ERA indicators (4.69 FIP, 4.51 xFIP) suggest he should be a bit better.
Reasons for concern: That aforementioned decline is hard to ignore at this point. His ERA and overall production has consistently regressed each season since his peak from 2022-23 and there are even more worrying trends this year. His strikeout rate is at a career-low 15 percent (he’s never been below 21.5 percent in a season) as is his 18.5 percent whiff rate. Until the whiffs come back, Gallen will likely continue to struggle.
Gabriel Moreno, C
Reasons for optimism: Even with a career-low .630 OPS, Moreno’s defense has remained as good as ever. But there’s also ample reason to expect a bounce back in his offensive performance. Like Marte, there is a sizable gap between Moreno’s expected wOBA (.315) and his actual wOBA (.280). Moreno is running a career-best 11.7 percent barrel rate, nearly twice as high as his 6.3 percent career rate. His improved bat speed (up from 70.9 mph in 2025 to 71.6 mph this year) also suggests that he’s more than fine physically at the plate.
Reasons for concern: While the contact quality is good, the plate discipline has regressed in a big way. Moreno’s 5.7 percent walk rate would be the lowest of any full season, while his 24.1 percent strikeout rate would be the highest. Moreno’s chase rate has had a staggering jump from 25.9 percent last year to career-high 36.8 percent this year, while his whiff rate is also a personal-high at 22.8 percent.
Merrill Kelly, RHP
Reasons for optimism: While the overall numbers are not pretty -- Kelly has a 5.91 ERA in six starts -- he’s also coming off his two best outings of the season. Kelly threw his first career complete game in his last outing, allowing a lone run in nine innings of work at the friendly confines of Coors Field. His previous outing was a seven-inning, one-run outing against the Mets at home. Two straight excellent starts help mask what was a brutal beginning to his season.
Reasons for concern: Kelly struggled mightily in his first four outings of the season, allowing 21 earned runs in 19 innings (9.95 ERA) with more walks (15) than strikeouts (14). He also allowed 29 hits, six of which left the yard. The two strong starts in a row are encouraging, but there was enough damage done in the first four starts to worry about what is next for the 37-year-old veteran.
Ryne Nelson, RHP
Reasons for optimism: Nelson's 22.4 percent strikeout rate is his best in a full season and while his 7.3 percent walk rate is a tick higher than usual, the combination of strikeouts and walks is good. His 15.1 strikeout-minus-walk percentage is also the best of his career. Nelson's stuff is better than ever, too, as the velocity is up across the board for his pitches, headlined by his 96.2 mph four-seamer.
Reasons for concern: Even with more strikeouts and better stuff, opposing hitters are teeing off on Nelson this year. The right-hander has a career-worst 12.0 percent barrel rate, with 74.4 percent of his batted balls ending up in the air. For reference, only 60 percent of his batted balls were in the air last season. The good news is this seems like a matter of cleaning up his command, rather than a stuff issue.