Diamondbacks 2023 Season Review: May
After withstanding a tough beginning to their schedule, the Diamondbacks had an opportunity to take advantage of a softer part of their schedule in May. They had the Nationals, Pirates, Athletics, and Rockies as a big chunk of their schedule, teams that everyone rightfully predicted to be some of the worst in baseball in 2023. They also faced teams that ultimately made the postseason in the Rangers, Marlins, and Phillies for the month. After a 16-13 start to the season, this was the opportunity to add some wins in a year where traditional National League powerhouses like the Dodgers and Cardinals were having a down season.
They began the month by splitting two games at Globe Life Field. In fact, those two games mirrored the first two games of the World Series. The Rangers came from behind in Zac Gallen's start against Arizona's bullpen in the first game and in the second the D-backs followed it up with a big day on offense. With the Rangers viewed as a World Series contender, which was ultimately proven correct, a road split was a positive outcome.
Then they came home to play the Nationals, Marlins and Giants. Arizona had a chance to sweep Washington, but allowed big innings in the 9th on back-to-back games. They came back to win the first, but not the second. In the Marlins series, the two teams split the first two games before the Marlins scored the winning run for the series in the 9th inning. That inning proved to be the difference between Arizona winning the 5th seed vs. the 6th seed for the National League playoffs, losing the head-to-head tiebreaker to the Marlins. They bounced back to take the final three of a four-game against the Giants thanks to the heroics of rookie outfielder Dominic Fletcher.
Their next road trip consisted of nine games between the A's, Pirates, and a Phillies team that got off to a slow start. While Arizona took all three series on that road trip, the deficiencies of the roster at hand turned a potential 8-1 trip to 6-3. In two of their losses, they had leads of four and five runs respectively. Those prevented series sweeps against Oakland and Philadelphia, with the D-backs missing an opportunity to turn a good road trip into a great road trip.
They returned home to play the Boston Red Sox. The Sox were having another down year, but were still an above .500 team. They were vastly outplayed in the first game as rookie right-hander Brandon Pfaadt got blown up for a third time in his first five career starts. Pfaadt would be later sent down after this game with a 0-3 record and an 8.37 ERA. They lost a close game, failing to score against the Red Sox bullpen after falling behind 2-1 early on a day the D-backs bullpen was good. Merrill Kelly would ensure the Sox would not get a sweep with 6 2/3 impressive innings with 10 strikeouts. With a disappointing series loss, they got the opportunity to play the last place Rockies. After getting slammed for four early runs in the first game of the series, the D-backs came back and outscored them by a combined score of 18-1 in their last 25 innings of May.
At the conclusion of May, the D-backs were 33-23 and a nonzero chance of competing for the NL West division. Against four of the worst teams in baseball, they went 9-3 . On four separate occasions, the team put together a four-game winning streak, en route to a 17-10 record for the month and a +18 run differential.
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Pfaadt, who was Arizona's top pitching prospect entering the season, struggled in his first five career starts. Despite going 0-3 with a 8.37 ERA and a whopping eight home runs allowed in 23 2/3 innings, the D-backs went 2-3 in those starts. Pfaadt would ultimately get sent down twice before bouncing back in a big way in the second half of the season (4.22 ERA) and the postseason.
Andrew Chafin, Miguel Castro, and Jose Ruiz each had a rough 9th inning blown save during the month of May. It was also at this time that Scott McGough had hit his stride on the mound after struggling in April. Castro led the team in saves (5) followed by Chafin (3). Castro was the only member of this group to pitch in the postseason, as McGough finished the year with a shoulder injury, Chafin was traded to the Brewers, and Ruiz was designated for assignment and outrighted to Triple-A.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. would have his best month in a Diamondbacks uniform, hitting .352 with seven doubles, a triple, eight home runs, 18 RBI, and a 1.130 OPS. That played a big part in Gurriel's first ever All-Star selection later in the year. Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte, and Christian Walker all had OPS over .850 and the team averaged over five runs a game for the second straight month.
