Arizona

Previewing the Arizona Diamondbacks Rotation

Published

1 year ago

March 25, 2025

Previewing the Arizona Diamondbacks Rotation

Spring training has come to a close, and while fans prepare for opening day, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ front office is still in the midst of some chalenging roster decisions.

In previous installments of our depth previews, we have already tackled the infield, outfield, and catcher groups, all of which will be linked at the bottom of the story. Next in line is the D-backs’ myriad of starting pitching which may just be the best in baseball.

Corbin Burnes – RHP

After inking a $210 million contract this winter it shouldn’t be a shock that Burnes is viewed as the clubs new ace starter. The right-hander is not only a former Cy Young winner, back in 2021, but has made four consecutive All-Star games, and has garnered Cy Young votes in each of the last five seasons.

There are few pitchers worth handing out such a large contract to, but he certainly fits the bill, even giving out a minor hometown discount. He has finished with an ERA below three in five of his seven major league campaigns, including 2024, and has only posted an ERA+ below 127 once.

Likely a top five starter in all of baseball entering 2025, he will headline the Diamondbacks’ rotation this season, and for years to come. Burnes will be making the fifth start of the season for the Diamondbacks due to needing to stay on regular rest.

Related Content: Corbin Burnes Tells All in Q&A on Rotation Order Situation

Zac Gallen – RHP

The Diamondbacks’ ace for years, Gallen is entering his final season before free agency. In a sentimental decision, Torey Lovullo tabbed Gallen to be the opening day starter. The right-hander is coming off a somewhat injury riddled 2024 season where he battled hamstring issues that relegated him to 148 innings pitched.

Still, he is only a season sepearated from a strong 2023 campaign where he started for the National League in the All-Star game. He has received Cy Young votes in three of the last five seasons and even received down-ballot MVP votes in 2023.

While he has been the D-backs’ most dominant arm during his tenure, he has also experienced his share of struggles. 2024 saw Gallen have issues with fastball command, something which had been a strength for him as a pitcher throughout his career. He will need to see a rebound in command in 2025 if he hopes to return to his Cy Young caliber form.

Merrill Kelly – RHP

Kelly missed substantial time in 2024 due to a right-shoulder strain. While his numbers last year look pedestrian, with a 104 ERA+ in a 73.2 inning sample, he is coming off incredible seasons in 2022 and 2023.

The righty pitched to a 4.70 ERA in 15.1 innings this spring but saw a return to form in his strikeouts with 9.4 K/9. Now guaranteed extra protection in the rotation and hopeful for a healthy season, Kelly will need a big rebound in his contract year.

Eduardo Rodriguez – LHP

The lone lefty in the Diamondbacks’ rotation, Rodriguez is in a similar boat to Kelly and Gallen. His 2024 season was stunted by a left shoulder strain, leaving him only available to pitch in 50 innings during his inaugural D-backs season.

Still, he is only one season removed from being one of the most dominant southpaws in the American League. Rodriguez posted a 3.30 ERA across 152.2 innings with Detroit in 2023, totaling a 131 ERA+.

Concern does lie in the fact that the lefty has now gone three consecutive seasons averaging less than one strikeout per inning spanning a seasons length. This is something that he seems to have rebounded on to some extent, with 10.8 K/9 across 10 spring training innings, but it will still be an important issue to monitor.

Brandon Pfaadt – RHP

The lone young starter in the rotation is Brandon Pfaadt. In 2024 he was easily the most durable Diamondbacks pitcher, posting more innings than any other starter with 181.2.

He also happened to be one of the most unlucky pitchers in all of baseball, with a 3.61 FIP compared to his inflated 4.71 ERA, a pattern that was similarily shared in his 2023 rookie season. While his surface numbers might not do him justice, he did see improvement in other aspects of his game.

The righty managed to limit walks to an incredible extent, allowing only 2.1 BB/9, an improvement from his 2.4 the year prior. He did so while also raising his strikeout rate over the much larger sample, now averaging 9.2 K/9 in 2024.

Pfaadt will need to limit location mistakes on his trademark sweeper. Batters hit just .215 against the pitch, and the WHIFF rates was 36%. But he tended to leave it in the middle of the zone at times, resulting in 13 of the 24 homers he allowed coming off the Sweeper.

Other rotation arms that will work as current MLB depth are Ryne Nelson and Jordan Montgomery.

Nelson was arguably Arizona’s best starter in 2024’s second half, but left something to be desired this spring, and lost out on a rotation spot due to the incredible roster crunch. According to Diamondbacks ON SI’s Jack Sommers, he will likely work out of the bullpen to start the year.

Montgomery was the D-backs’ prize acquisition entering 2024, but struggled massively throughout the entire season. Things havent gotten better this spring, with a 15.00 ERA in 3 innings thrown. While this is skewed by a particularily bad first outing, he was left out of the rotation for a reason.

There are still plenty of trade rumors regarding Montgomery, and these could very well still come to fruition. Arizona has a strong incentive to seek these out because of the lefty’s crippling $22.5 million salary.

Other names currently on the Diamondbacks’ 40 man roster who could see MLB time in case of injuries include Yilber Diaz, Tommy Henry, and Cristian Mena. All three are in the Triple-A Reno rotation and have MLB experience. Joe Elbis. is also on the 40-man, but will pitch in Double-A Amarillo to start the year, and is likely more than a year away from his MLB Debut.

Diaz, a top pitching prospect in Arizona’s system made his debut last season and looked promising. While 2025 might not open the door for him quite yet, 2026 and beyond could give him the room to burst into the club’s rotation.

Yu-Min Lin and Dylan Ray are two very promising young arms in the D-backs’ farm system. Both are likely at least a year away as well and will start the year in Double-A Amarillo with the Sod Poodles.

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Arizona

Arizona law closes loophole for registered sex offenders

Published

3 hours ago

April 9, 2026

Press Room

Arizona law closes loophole for registered sex offenders

A new law is in effect in Arizona, tightening name-change rules for sex offenders. Those trying to change their name must now disclose their status, in a move to keep victims better informed and to keep the community safer. FOX 10’s Megan Spector learns more about the law closing the loophole.

Posted April 8, 2026 9:10pm MST

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Arizona

Arizona teen who vanished in 1994 resurfaces decades later as mom of 3 who works for private investigator

Published

15 hours ago

April 8, 2026

Press Room

Arizona teen who vanished in 1994 resurfaces decades later as mom of 3 who works for private investigator

A runaway Arizona schoolgirl last seen 32 years ago is reportedly living as a married mom of three who works for a private investigator.

Christina Plante was 13 when she disappeared from her parents’ house in Star Valley, northeast of Phoenix, one Sunday afternoon in May 1994.

Now 45, the former missing teen was discovered living in Springfield, Missouri, in a five-bedroom house she shares with her husband, Shaun Hollon, 49, the Daily Mail reported.

Since her identity was revealed, Plante has given very few details about the past three decades.

She reportedly married as a teen and had three sons before earning a psychology degree and getting a job with a private investigations firm.

“She isn’t being very cooperative with us. She wouldn’t say who she met with or how she even got out of town,” Gila County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Jim Lahti told the Daily Mail.

“She did admit that she ran away. She didn’t want to be there,” he added.

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Arizona

Mixed Arizona reaction to Trump’s chilling post before ceasefire deal

Published

1 day ago

April 8, 2026

Press Room

Mixed Arizona reaction to Trump’s chilling post before ceasefire deal

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A ceasefire announced Tuesday will suspend the war in Iran for two weeks and Iranian officials said they will negotiate with the United States starting Friday.

President Donald Trump agreed to a deal hours after he posted “a whole civilization will die tonight” on social media.

Before news broke about the cease-fire, Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona introduced articles of impeachment Monday against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Ansari, the daughter of Iranian immigrants, is also part of a growing list of Democrats calling for Trump to be impeached.

“Iran is a country of 90 million people. Threatening them with annihilation is a monstrous war crime and puts them and American service members and Americans at grave risk,” Ansari said in a video posted Monday on social media. “As a chief enabler of this illegal war, Pete Hegseth is responsible for directing this insane military action against Iran, which has already killed thousands of civilians, led to the unnecessary deaths of American service members, and displaced over a million people in the region.”

Not everyone with strong ties to Iran agrees with her.

“I don’t see why they should be impeached,” said Amirdanial Azimi. He is the president of the Iranian Students Association at Arizona State University (ASU). He grew up in Iran and has family and friends there right now.

“Speaking to my friends and relatives, I’ve realized that they’re more scared of their own government than they are like external forces like the United States and Israel,” Azimi said.

Azimi predicted Trump would not follow through with his threat to destroy Iran.

“I do take offense, like Iranians do take offense, like they don’t want their civilizations to be wiped off,” Azimi said. “This is the fault of the Iranian regime, their government, because they’ve been chanting death to Israel, death to America for the past years.”

Hessam Rahimian is a refugee turned American citizen. He said he escaped Iran decades ago, where his uncle was murdered and his cousins remain in jail. He said schoolchildren are taught to chant “death to America” every day.

He said he has hundreds of family members and friends still in Iran. In Arizona, Rahimian organizes rallies in support of the war to raise awareness about the reality of life in Iran and the thousands of protesters killed by the Iranian government.

Before the attack was called off, Rahimian said it was challenging to process Trump’s threat to wipe out his home country.

“So he did say that, but he has also said, in the same token today, that the Iranian people are good people, and he will do his best to make sure that they’re safe. So which one you go with, again, I go back to his actions in the past year, it has been against the Islamic regime and not the Iranian people,” Rahimian said. “Would I like for him not to use that language? Of course, absolutely. But we also know that the war talk takes place and they say things to create fear.”

Daniel Rothenberg is a politics and global studies professor at ASU. He said the biggest question is why the U.S. is at war in the first place.

“This is, above all, a war of choice. The U.S. was not attacked. There was no imminent threat from Iran,” Rothenberg said.

Rothenberg said Trump has not clearly explained the point of the war that is costing billions of dollars a day and countless human lives or what a victory would look like.

“Wars tend to end through negotiations, not through military victory,” Rothenberg said. “I mean, what does it mean to wipe out a civilization? And frankly, why would you even make that sort of threat? What’s the purpose?”

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