Good, Bad and Ugly: Diamondbacks Aren't Dead Yet

The Arizona Diamondbacks fought hard for four games against MLB's leading team, earning a series split against the Brewers in Milwaukee.

The Diamondbacks are now 66-69 and seven games back of a Wild Card. They're not mathematically eliminated, but the positive takeaways are less tangible than a playoff berth.

Still, it's this website's duty to break down the good, as well as the bad, and, of course, the ugly.

Here's what the series split said about Arizona:

Diamondbacks vs Brewers: The Good

Diamondbacks Never Say Die

The Diamondbacks have been missing their trademark comeback gene for much of the 2025 season. In seasons past, it's felt like no lead is safe for opposing teams, while this year it's felt like the opposite is true.

But in this series, Arizona came back from a deficit in three of four games. In game one, they pulled within one run after going down 6-0 early. In game two, they tied the game after a similar early deficit, though they fell just shy of a comeback win.

They flipped a 1-0 deficit in game three and came away with the victory. They did the same in game four.

Something about playing better teams just seems to unlock the D-backs' high-intensity, late-game execution personality. Perhaps there is no room for moral victories in such a disappointing season, but Arizona did nothing if not fight extremely hard.

Diamondbacks' Bullpen Bounce-Back

The D-backs' bullpen did an impressive job against a tough Brewers offense despite having to cover an immense number of innings after some poor starting pitching.

Arizona's relievers combined for 17.2 innings of work, allowing six earned runs, good for a 3.05 ERA with two saves.

Bryce Jarvis pitched 5.2 innings with two earned runs out of the bullpen in game one, Andrew Saalfrank worked a five-out save in game three, and Taylor Rashi made a heroic first MLB appearance with a three-inning scoreless save in the finale.

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As battered and poor as Arizona's bullpen has been, they put out one impressive effort in this taxing four-game series.

Diamondbacks vs Brewers: The Bad

Pfaadt's, Rodriguez's Poor Starts

The Diamondbacks did get some quality starting pitching in this series — from Ryne Nelson in game three and Nabil Crismatt in game two. Those two combined to give up three earned runs over 11.2 innings.

Meanwhile, Brandon Pfaadt and Eduardo Rodriguez had nearly identical blowup outings, continuing a concerning pattern. Both were blown up for five-plus runs in the third inning, and both were pulled after just 2.2.

While the D-backs did fight back in both of those games, it cost the bullpen heavily, and both pitchers' ERAs sit well above 5.00 after yet another poor outing.

As good as Arizona has been at responding, you won't win many games in which your starters have that kind of effort.

Diamondbacks vs Brewers: The Ugly

Winning Ugly

In some cases, ugly can be a good thing. As negatively ugly as the D-backs' starting pitching was in this series, their wins were the definition of winning ugly.

Scraping runs across by means of RBI hit-by-pitches and groundouts in game four, fending off an onslaught of traffic in late innings to record saves — winning the inch, as manager Torey Lovullo often says.

In game three, Saalfrank gave up a would-be one-out double, but Lourdes Gurriel Jr. made a game-saving throw, as Arizona went on to win by one.

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In game four, Crismatt gave up eight hits and two unearned runs, but shut down the incessant traffic. Rashi had the go-ahead run at the plate twice in three innings, but did not allow a run.

Executing when it matters most, picking up your pitchers, and staying fundamentally sound through adversity. That's how a club wins ugly, and that's what the Diamondbacks did in both of their wins.

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