Diamondbacks' Utilityman Opens Up on Return to Majors

Arizona Diamondbacks utilityman Tim Tawa has had a bit of a difficult road through his 2025 major league debut season.

After some initial success, Tawa ran into a rookie wall, and was optioned back to the minor leagues on July 5. Not long after, he was hit by a pitch, which was initially diagnosed as a contusion.

But as it turns out, Tawa had suffered a rib fracture — one that did not appear in his initial imaging. He would have to sit out until September 3, but was then recalled five days later, following injuries to both Tyler Locklear and Pavin Smith at first base.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Tim Tawa Opens Up on Injury, Return to Majors

Ahead of Arizona's game one matchup with the Phillies on Friday, Tawa caught up with Diamondbacks On SI's Jack Sommers.

Tawa said he feels good again, healthy enough to play at full speed.

"Happy to be out there playing again and feeling like myself," Tawa said.

"Tried to play through it and just couldn't really do it. Couldn't swing the way I wanted to, couldn't move the way I wanted to, so glad to be feeling healthy and good enough to play."

Tawa said his send-down wasn't necessarily an assignment to work on any one particular thing, but rather to rediscover his rhythm at the plate.

"I think just [to] get my confidence back a little bit and find a little more rhythm. I felt pretty good, especially that first couple games back down in Triple-A. I thought I was swinging it well, I was seeing it well and then got hit by the pitch and just was trying to find something from there..." Tawa said.

"They thought I was, a little bit, pressing too much, and they were probably right. So just trying to get back into a rhythm and feel like myself was the biggest thing."

Tawa said that, even when the results weren't falling his way, he felt like he was seeing the ball decently enough. The extra reps in Triple-A helped him regain his confidence.

"Even when I'm not swinging the bat well, I always feel like I'm seeing it okay. Sometimes you just, when you're not getting as many reps as normal... it's harder to find that rhythm and you end up putting a lot of pressure on yourself.

"You're like, 'Oh I need to do something really well in this at-bat because this is my chance and it just builds up and builds up and builds up. So it might look like something, but I didn't feel that way.

"I just felt out of rhythm more than anything, and just needed to find that confidence, find myself again and feel like myself at the plate. So just trying to do that now and feel good and help the team win some ballgames," Tawa said.

Tawa is batting 6-for-23 (.261) with two doubles and two RBI since being called back up. He's also hit some balls very hard that were caught for outs. His defense at first base has also been sharp since his return.

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