Diamondbacks 2023 Review: March/April

A surprisingly good start, a scoreless streak, a veteran's downfall, and a scary injury punctuate the first month of the season

The 2023 Diamondbacks regular season kicked off on March 30th on the road with a four-game series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. It was the first series in what looked to be a stern and even brutal test right out of the gate. 

Eight of their first 10 games were against the Dodgers, with the other two being in San Diego.  17 of their first 23 games were scheduled against teams that made the playoffs in 2022 and had a composite 94-win total from the previous season. 

They answered the bell splitting the series with the Dodgers by squeaking out a couple of 2-1 victories while getting beat 8-2 and 10-1 in the other two games. They split two games in San Diego, and it could have been a sweep were it not for a blown save in the 9th, something, that would become a regular occurrence the first 4+ months of the season.  They went back home with a 3-3 record and lost their home opener to the Dodgers, but took the next three games of the four-game set to get to 6-4 and move into a tie for first place in the NL West. 

The D-backs went 10-9 over the remainder of the month to finish April 16-13. They were either tied or in first place every day from April 8th onward, ending the month with the same record as the Dodgers. 

Biggest Player Stories

Zac Gallen had a rocky start in his first two outings in Los Angeles and San Diego, but pitched a scoreless sixth inning on April 4th against the Padres in an 8-6 come from behind D-backs win. That kick started a 28-inning scoreless streak as he won each of his next four starts, throwing shutout baseball for 27 innings in the process. He concluded April going 4-1, with a 1,.72 ERA, putting himself squarely among the early Cy Young Award contenders

Madison Bumgarner's season started even worse than his previous years with Arizona, posting a 10.26 ERA through his first four starts. A contentious relationship had developed between the veteran starting and pitching coach Brent Strom over the previous season and that carried over into early 2023. Seemingly unable or unwilling to make changes that might get him back to competitiveness, the team cut bait, DFA'ing Bumgarner on April 20th. 

That left the D-backs on hook for approximately $35 million for the balance of 2023, and all of 2024.  General Manager Mike Hazen made it clear early that the 2023 team was here to win and compete, and Bumgarner was not going to be able to further that cause. Strom later tried to diplomatically refer to the separation as an "Amicable Divorce", but there was nothing amicable about unceremoniously cutting a former World Series legend and eating that much money in the process. Bumgarner finished his Diamondbacks career 15-32 with a 5.32 ERA in 69 starts. 

Corbin Carroll hit just .233 over his first 12 games while failing to take a walk and homering just twice. Starting on April 12th, he went on a 16-game tear, going 20 for 54 and drawing eight walks to raise his batting line for the month to .309/.374/.506, .910 OPS. He'd hit four home runs and stole 10 bases.  The team received a scare in Colorado, however, when their newly minted franchise player crashed into the left field wall knee first, crumpling to the ground. He came out of the game, and the next day, Dominic Fletcher was called up to give the D-backs some depth in the outfield. 

Geraldo Perdomo got off to a scorching start in April, leading the team in all three triple-slash categories with a .383/.456/.617 line, good for an amazing 1.073 OPS. He was tied for 2nd on the team in RBI as he displayed an uncanny knack for getting hits with runners in scoring position. 

Ryne Nelson, who had won the 5th starter's spot, posted a 6.39 ERA in six starts. Drey Jameson was moved from the bullpen to the rotation after the Bumgarner DFA.  He had one good outing, followed by two poor and short outings where he struggled with command. He was optioned to Reno after the game of April 23rd amidst questions about his usage plan. 

Zac Gallen Extends Scoreless Streak to 28 Innings in Victory

 

Mike Hazen Stresses Urgency in Decision to DFA Bumgarner