\u201cSitting where we stood at the very beginning of the season, what the schedule was going to look like, where we were on the injured list,\u00a0ending up here at 13-10, 23 games in, I\u2019ll take,\u201d general manager Mike Hazen told Arizona Sports\u2019 Wolf & Luke<\/a> last week. \u201cNot excited about some of the parts of what\u2019s going on, but I think these guys have grinded pretty hard and played really well in large pockets.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re deep, and we got guys coming back,\u201d Soroka said on Thursday. \u201cSo it\u2019s an exciting team to be a part of, and it\u2019s easy to rally around guys like\u00a0Vargas and (Geraldo) Perdomo who keep the life going around here.\u00a0It\u2019s been a good atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n The Diamondbacks got through their Mexico City Series with the rival San Diego Padres with a pair of eventful games. Arizona suffered a deflating loss on Saturday by blowing a four-run lead, but its six-run comeback<\/a> on Sunday was arguably the most impressive win of the season.<\/p>\n With something of a sample size one month down, here are three areas that have been promising and three others that could use improving:<\/p>\n Diamondbacks through 1 month of 2026 The D-backs scored two runs or fewer in six of their first nine games, with most of the lineup hitting below .200.<\/p>\n Since then, Arizona has averaged 5.7 runs per game, producing the seventh-most runs and fourth-highest OPS (.788) in the league in its past 18 games.<\/p>\n Vargas has been the surprise story of the season with a 23-game hitting streak (20 games this season), giving the D-backs three hits from the lead-off spot on Sunday with Perdomo down with an ankle sprain.<\/p>\n Carroll, despite dealing with back and hip issues, is top 10 in MLB with a .952 OPS.<\/p>\n Beyond the top two, Nolan Arenado and Perdomo have turned slow starts around, while rookie Jose Fernandez continues to pile up hits.<\/p>\n Among 239 MLB players with at least 70 plate appearances, Vargas leads the group with a .367 batting average and Fernandez is fourth at .342.<\/p>\n The offense has moved into the top seven in batting average and slugging percentage, helped by a National League-leading 54 doubles and MLB-leading 10 triples.<\/p>\n \u201cYou guys see today what this team can do\u00a0and I hope we can continue to play the same way,\u201d Perdomo said after an 11-run outburst against the White Sox on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Needs improvement: Grinding out walks<\/p>\n The Diamondbacks are 29th in walk rate and 26th in on-base percentage, which is an odd place to see them given the hitting philosophy of this team. From 2023-25, the D-backs were top six in both categories.<\/p>\n \u201cStubborn\u201d at-bats are expected.<\/p>\n Arizona leads the league with an .894 OPS with runners in scoring position, but it has the fourth-fewest plate appearances in such run-scoring situations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to do a better job of grinding out at-bats, getting on base on the whole,\u201d Hazen said. \u201cThat\u2019s been an area of focus.\u00a0That\u2019s probably the biggest thing that I\u2019m fixated on right now in terms of where the offense is at and driving run scoring opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n Arizona is seeing a lot of pitches, but pitchers are peppering the strike zone. So far, the D-backs have taken advantage, but the walks will have to increase for when the bats get cooler during the ebbs and flows of a season.<\/p>\n Promising: Pitching staff has kept D-backs in games \u2026 most of the time<\/p>\n We will get to the blowup innings that affect the club\u2019s overall pitching numbers.<\/p>\n The starting rotation has an ERA of 4.62, which is bottom six in Major League Baseball, but it is weighed down heavily by two recent starts that went off the rails. Ryne Nelson allowed eight runs before getting out of the first inning last Sunday, and Merrill Kelly gave up eight runs in 4.2 innings on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Take those two starts out, and Arizona\u2019s starting pitcher ERA shrinks to 3.69, which would be top six. Of course, every team\u2019s stats would look much better without its worst two outings, but it goes to show that the rotation has kept the D-backs in games \u2026 for the most part.<\/p>\n Soroka (2.60), Eduardo Rodriguez (2.89) and Zac Gallen (3.14) have carried the load, with the D-backs 4-1 in Soroka\u2019s five starts. Soroka is seventh in MLB in strikeouts per nine innings (11.06) among 79 qualified starters.<\/p>\n Kelly is only two starts into his return from a back issue that delayed him in spring, while Nelson threw a pair of gems before his last two rough outings.<\/p>\n The bullpen is a similar story, in the sense that if you take away innings from Joe Ross (since designated for assignment) and catcher James McCann, its ERA drops from 4.67 (22nd) to 3.75 (would be 11th).<\/p>\n Taylor Clarke and Juan Morillo have been standouts, while Paul Sewald has done his job in save situations (7-for-7) but not so much when he enters non-save situations (three innings, five runs).<\/p>\n Needs improvement: Avoid letting innings snowball<\/p>\n The Diamondbacks have struggled since the very first game of the season with stopping the bleeding, as they have allowed four runs in an inning 13 times, nearly every other game.<\/p>\n It has contributed to Arizona having seven games with at least seven runs allowed (fifth most in MLB), 12 comeback wins and 18 games decided by three runs or fewer.<\/p>\n A lot of that is on pitching execution in stressful spots, but certainly some of the blame goes to defensive plays left on the table.<\/p>\n Promising: Outfield defense has been superb<\/p>\n Alek Thomas looks like an early Gold Glove contender, and the D-backs\u2019 outfield defense has generally been stellar this year.<\/p>\n Thomas has already accrued seven defensive runs saved, which is third in MLB for all positions. Carroll has continued to play a solid right field, Jorge Barrosa can go get the baseball from all three spots and even Lawlar played well out there before getting injured.<\/p>\n Fielding run value, a Statcast<\/a> metric that measures how many runs defenders save compared to average players, has Arizona\u2019s outfield ranked third in MLB with four, behind the Chicago Cubs and Padres.<\/p>\n Needs improvement: Infield defense<\/p>\n On the other hand, the infield defense could sharpen up. With -1 FRV, the D-backs\u2019 infield ranks 18th.<\/p>\n Arenado has had some dazzling moments, notably his diving catch to end Sunday\u2019s game, and also a pair of errors during the team\u2019s opening homestand.<\/p>\n Perdomo has also made some highlight-reel plays \u2014 he let a low line drive bounce off his glove so he could complete an unassisted double play on Thursday with the bases loaded. But there have been mistakes that counterbalance those moments. His error on Saturday \u2014 the play during which he sprained an ankle \u2014 set the Padres up to take the lead.<\/p>\n Ketel Marte has been good at second base, while Vargas an Fernandez are making do at first base due to injuries, but a team obsessed with improving its defense in the past couple years has ample room to improve.<\/p>\n
\nPromising: Banged-up offense is coming around<\/p>\n
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