Welcome to the D-backs Beat newsletter! I’m Steve Gilbert and I’ve been writing about the D-backs since 1998. Let’s get right to it … |
When a team deals away its veteran players at the Trade Deadline, it is usually a waving the white flag moment on a season, a sign that the focus has turned from the current season to the future. So when the D-backs traded away veterans Randal Grichuk, Josh Naylor, Eugenio Suárez, Merrill Kelly and Shelby Miller this year, it seemed their hopes of making the postseason went along with them. At the time of the Deadline, the D-backs had lost eight of nine games and were 51-58. Their chances of making the playoffs were about as good as getting a cool day in Phoenix during the summer. |
Since the Deadline, though, Arizona is 26-17 and right in the thick of the race heading into the final 10 games of the season. It's been a stunning turnaround and it begs the question of whether GM Mike Hazen harbors any regrets at trading away those players. "At the time of the Deadline, I didn't feel like we had much of a choice, just the way we were playing, the direction we were going, the position we were in relative to we were in the [standings]," Hazen said. Now, does he wish he had some of those players still? Yes, but it's undeniable -- and perhaps unexplainable -- that they've played better baseball since that time. |
"We would be a better team from a talent standpoint on paper," Hazen said. "In some regards, I do wonder if that was from a mental or a psychological standpoint, a wakeup call in some ways. ... We weren't intending to make it a wakeup call. We were doing what we felt business-wise we needed to do, just given where we were objectively." One of the reasons for the D-backs' surge has been the starting pitching has picked up the pace led by Zac Gallen, who was on the block at the Deadline but not dealt. The right-hander was struggling at the time with a 7-12 record to go with a 5.60 ERA. Hazen said while plenty of teams called on him, at no point was anything close. The D-backs had set a price for him and teams hoping to capitalize on his poor performance to that point were told "no thanks." |
Since then, Gallen is 5-2 with a 2.68 ERA and has combined with Ryne Nelson to provide a formidable 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation. Naylor at first and Suárez at third provided the D-backs with a lot of thunder at the plate, but since their departure, Arizona has gotten better at both positions defensively and trading Suárez opened a spot for Blaze Alexander. Originally put at third because top prospect Jordan Lawlar was just returning from an injury in Triple-A, Alexander has given the Diamondbacks not only a jolt offensively, but has been a revelation defensively. Alexander can also run and between he, Lawlar, Corbin Carroll, Jake McCarthy, Alek Thomas, Geraldo Perdomo and even Gabriel Moreno, the D-backs are able to create chaos on the basepaths much like they did in their run to the World Series in 2023. |
Add all of it up and whether it makes sense or not, the D-backs are playing better and are right in the thick of the race. "We've played much better since [the Deadline]," Hazen said. "We've played more disciplined since then. It's hard to truly understand it at times, but the defense has been, overall and objectively, much better. And I think that has been a major catalyst to smoothing out some of the pitching stuff." |
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Prior to the first game after the Deadline, Hazen addressed the team in Sacramento. He explained why he felt he had to make the moves that he made and let the team know that the rest of the season wasn't simply about playing out the string. Jobs for next year, Hazen told the team, were on the line. Guys were going to get opportunities and this was their chance to show him that he didn't need to go out and add players at their position during the offseason. "Don't come in next spring and say you didn't have an opportunity," Hazen told them. Whether the D-backs can overcome the Mets for the final NL Wild Card spot remains to be seen, but regardless the fact that they are playing meaningful games right now is important in their development for the future. "The biggest challenge with a rebuild is that there is a disease of losing that sets in," Hazen said. "It's hard to get the young players to understand the difference between being in the big leagues -- it's great getting reps at the big leagues and playing and making money and building your service time and all that -- but the biggest part of being in the big leagues is winning the World Series, making the playoffs and being a good baseball team. It's hard to instill it's about winning when you never win." |
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