Arizona Diamondbacks have momentum from last season — but face a difficult division with Dodgers

The Arizona Diamondbacks start their 2026 season Thursday evening in LA against the two-time defending champion Dodgers.

The Diamondbacks finished last season with a record of 80-82, in fourth place in the National League West. And, projections generally call for them to finish this season with a similar record.

Nick Piecoro, who covers the team for the Arizona Republic, joined The Show to preview the upcoming season.

Full conversation

MARK BRODIE: So the projections and you know, of course nobody can predict the future as we've talked about, the projections seem to be the D-backs are going to be sort of in that 80 to 84 win range is sort of what I've seen. Is that, is that kind of what the conventional wisdom is in the baseball world?

NICK PIECORO: Yeah, I'd say that's within the error bars. I mean, I think you can see it going, you know, in either direction depending on how things play out. They're going to be opening their season with a lot of guys on the injured list. They're going to be hoping that they get some of those guys back as the year goes along and hoping that, you know, they play well enough that they can make even more additions to the team at the trade deadline as needed.

And, you know, maybe they, maybe they goose those numbers a little bit, right.

BRODIE: So one of the players who had been injured is Corbin Carroll, one of their star players. It looks like he's back now. Is that right?

PIECORO: Corbin Carroll? Yes, he is back. He suffered a hamate bone fracture, early in spring training. Missed some time during camp, but, you know, the way he is, he plays through anything he can. We saw that last year when he had a broken bone in his, in his wrist. And was back on the field playing through it.

Yeah, he's been taking at-bats for a couple weeks now. You know, we'll see. He's been hitting balls hard at times, but he hadn't had a lot of results there in spring training. So we'll see if it takes him a little bit of time to round into form right now.

BRODIE: Another Corbin that would be particularly helpful for the D-backs to have back is pitcher Corbin Burnes since he had Tommy John surgery last year. When are the, is the team expecting him to make his return?

PIECORO: Yeah, he's gotten up off the mound and is throwing bullpen sessions right now, but it's a slow progression for those guys who have the elbow surgery. They're hoping that sometime in July, or at least that's when Corbin Burnes has been talking about, he wants to be back around the All Star break.

And, you know, he's doing his best to, you know, return in his ... the closest to his old form as he possibly can. A lot of times it takes guys a little bit of time to find that, that command. Yeah, again. But he says that's just been a huge focus with him.

You know, while he's been playing catch, while he's been throwing off the mound, he's not worrying about the spin on his pitches. He's not worrying about the velocity. He's just trying to put the ball exactly where he wants it every time. And he's hoping that that allows him to come back and be himself when he is back.

BRODIE: Sure. What is sort of the mood and the vibe inside the clubhouse? I mean, this is often the time of year when, you know, folks say, "Oh, everybody believes they can win the World Series on Opening Day."

I'm curious, you know, a lot of the same guys are back, a lot of younger players with the b-Backs. What's the vibe inside the clubhouse?

PIECORO: Yeah, I think that that's definitely the vibe. I mean, this is a team that played pretty well after the trade deadline last year with a pretty young roster. You know, some guys turned things around. Like, you know, Zac Gallen, for instance, who's back again. He had a strong final couple months of the season.

I think they're hoping that they can take some of that momentum that they had at the end of last year and carry it into this year.

BRODIE: So we have to talk about the fact that the D-Bbacks are playing in one of, if the not most difficult divisions in baseball, the National League West. Which of course has the Dodgers, who've won the last two World Series. The Padres are always good. The San Francisco Giants are often able to play very, very well.

How might that play into where the D-backs can finish? Because even if you don't win the division, you can still make the playoffs, but there's still only a couple of wild card slots. You still have to finish toward the top of the division.

PIECORO: Yeah, I mean, I think being in a division with the Dodgers, you know, generally cuts off a path to the playoffs, right. I mean, it's a disadvantage from the get go. But I mean, more and more with, with three wild card spots in each league, you're competing less against those teams in your division and more against the, you know, the second- and third-place teams in in all the other divisions.

So, you know, it could end up being that they're really competing with the Brewers and the Cubs and the Mets and the Phillies and you know, teams like that. So I don't know. I mean, I'm curious to see how it goes in the division.

I can sort of see a case where the Dodgers are the only real clear-cut good team in this division. The way it shakes out, I feel like you can kind of see some cracks from the forming with the Padres and certainly the Giants haven't been a dominant team for a while now.

BRODIE: Yeah, well, and of course they lost to the New York Yankees last night. I wanted to mention that.

So what has to go right for the D-backs if they are to make the playoffs this year?

PIECORO: Yeah, I mean I think it probably starts with the pitching staff. I mean that's been an issue for them for a couple of years now. You know, the rotation on paper, certainly once they get Corbin Burnes back is, is going to be solid. I think there's questions in the bullpen. They didn't do an awful lot, at least like high-profile additions to the, to that area in the offseason.

They're hoping that, you know, some guys bounce back and other guys kind of emerge and continue to develop. They added a lot of guys at the deadline last year. They've picked up a lot of young pitchers over the last, I don't know, 12 months. And I think they're just hoping that, that some of them turn into some pieces that they can rely on down there.

BRODIE: So is this kind of a, like a mix and match kind of situation for manager Torey Lovullo for a little bit, until he really sees what he has?

PIECORO: Yeah, could be. I mean he's going into the season with the same kind of ... three-headed bullpen group and Paul Sewald, Ryan Thompson and Kevin Ginkel that played big roles in the 2023 postseason run. You know, Sewald resigned again as a free agent in the offseason. Thompson and Ginkel have been here since then.

All three are kind of hoping for different levels of bounce-back years. You know, Sewald is trying to stay healthy. Ginkel also I guess got hurt last year but, but had a really miserable year otherwise. And Thompson was OK, just not as consistent probably as he would like. So you know, I think they're hoping that those guys can emerge.

But you know, look, I, I do think that they have more depth in that area. More, more names that are going to be considerations sitting down in the minor leagues. So I don't know how much the Diamondbacks, or how long the Diamondbacks are going to be sitting around waiting for everything to come together the way they hope. With options, it means that they could make some changes, you know, quickly if things don't work out in the first month or so.