Diamondbacks' Pitching Staff Given Brutal Early Ranking

Here's what Reuter had to say about Arizona's hurlers:

"The D-backs ranked 23rd in the majors with a 4.49 ERA last season and return essentially the same core group after re-signing Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen. They will get Corbin Burnes back at some point in 2026, but there's no guarantee he will immediately be back to frontline form. In the bullpen, they still lack a lockdown closer and settled on a reunion with Paul Sewald to address their late-inning vacancy."

The D-backs opted to not make a splash addition to their staff in the offseason. While some additions were made, they were generally low-risk, under-the-radar signings. Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly returned, both on relatively lucrative deals, but neither came for ace-tier money.

Kelly's two-year, $40 million vastly surpassed Gallen's one-year deal, which is worth the equivalent of the qualifying offer (and with significant deferrals).

Simply put, the Diamondbacks chose to not invest resources into the biggest area of weakness. They added Michael Soroka to the rotation, brought back Paul Sewald on a cheap deal and added two solid arms in Taylor Clarke and Jonathan Loaisiga, but those moves were not enough to significantly move the needle in terms of overall team ERA and production.

There is still time for the group to gel a bit more, but there's also little reason for fans to hold out hope that a significant improvement is on the way.

Last year saw the D-backs post a bottom-five bullpen ERA and bottom-10 overall team ERA. Ryne Nelson did a lot of the heavy lifting in the rotation.

But Arizona is still missing its top two bullpen arms — Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk — and lost lefty Andrew Saalfrank in the offseason to shoulder surgery. No. 1 starter Corbin Burnes won't pitch until around the All-Star break at the earliest.

Kelly, meanwhile, was pushed back multiple weeks with intercostal nerve irritation in his back, and may take some time to get back to his full form once he returns (likely in early April).

It's looking like another brutal year of pitching for the Diamondbacks, unless something changes soon.