The Mariners finally put together a complete series with every part of the roster firing on all cylinders. That it came against the division leading Athletics and led to a sweep, launching the M’s into first place in the AL West makes it all the sweeter. The team still isn’t above .500 yet — it’s a weird year in the West — but they’ve got momentum on their side and are staring down at all their rivals once again.
The Diamondbacks entered this season in a weird place. They haven’t been able to build off of their surprise World Series appearance back in 2023 despite investing a bunch of money into their roster the last few years. The issue is that Corbin Burnes and a bunch of their best relievers got injured and the rest of the pitching staff wasn’t deep enough to cover for those absences. That led to a pretty dramatic sell off last summer, though all of the team’s core pieces were left intact. That’s the reason why they’ve been so competitive this year — it really helps when your two superstars carry the offense through the first few months of the season. Those injured pitchers should be returning sometime around midseason which means the team is actually in a good place right now to take advantage of those reinforcements in the summer.
The Diamondbacks have a well-rounded lineup anchored by two superstars. Ketel Marte has been one of the hottest hitters on the planet the past few weeks; since May 9, he’s collected 29 hits in just 17 games, raising his season wRC+ up to 124. He had really struggled to start the season so this hot streak seems like his results correcting themselves to where his peripherals said he should be. Over that same period, Corbin Carroll has collected 22 hits, though that’s a pretty normal output since he’s been excellent throughout the season. Geraldo Perdomo enjoyed a huge breakout last year, though he’s struggled in his follow up season. He’s still got a fantastic approach at the plate, but the power that fueled his breakout has all but disappeared.
Arizona has also promoted their two top prospects recently; Ryan Waldschmidt has taken over in center field after the team designated Alek Thomas for assignment and Tommy Troy is covering for the injured Lourdes Gurriel Jr. On the other end of the age spectrum, Nolan Arenado has played well in his first season in Arizona, producing his best offensive output since 2022, and Ildemaro Vargas is enjoying a breakout season at the ripe age of 34.
Zac Gallen suffered through the worst season of his career last year, his final year of team control before hitting the open market as a free agent. It could not have been worse timing. With a qualifying offer attached to him, he received very little interest from other teams and wound up re-signing with Arizona in February. Things haven’t been any better this year. Even at his peak, Gallen survived not through overpowering stuff but with a deep repertoire, command, and deception. Without much margin for error to begin with, it certainly seems like all those tricks have failed him the past two years.
Ryne Nelson possesses a phenomenal fastball. He throws it with nearly perfect backspin and it has a ton of carry at the top of the zone as a result. When batters aren’t swinging underneath it, they’re popping it up or hitting lazy fly balls. Unfortunately, one plus pitch is about all he has. His secondary pitches are average at best and he relies far too heavily on his heater to get outs. His slider has shown a little bit of promise, though he just doesn’t use it enough to help him earn strikeouts. His other problem is that he doesn’t really have a pitch to keep left-handed batters at bay; he dabbled with a changeup in the past but it didn’t stick. Now he’s using a cutter to try and keep batters off his four-seamer, but they’re just crushing the cutter when they see it instead.
After being traded to the Rangers at the trade deadline last summer, Merrill Kelly came right back and re-signed with the Diamondbacks this offseason. A nerve issue in his back sidelined him this spring and he was forced to ramp up on a delayed timeline. He wound up missing the first three weeks of the season. He had trouble with his command and feel once he was back on the mound, which is a big problem because his command and feel are essentially the only way he’s been able to be successful throughout his career. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but knows how to use his deep repertoire to keep batters off balance when he can hit his spots. His best pitch is a hard changeup that dives off the table and a slider that is getting a lot more use this year.
After failing their test against the Mariners, the Athletics now host the Yankees for three games this weekend. The Astros took three of four from the Rangers this week and swapped places with them in the standings. Despite their early season struggles, Houston is now only 2.5 games back in the division thanks to a 7-3 record over their last 10 games. The Astros host the Brewers this weekend while the Rangers host the Royals.
