Key to Diamondbacks' 2026 Success Could Be This Simple

The Arizona Diamondbacks' disappointing 2025 season fell on the shoulders of many, rather than one single factor. Injuries, underperformance and poor luck all played a part in the ultimate letdown of an 80-82 year.

Adding pitching talent in the offseason is a must, that cannot be denied. Arizona will be down their best starting pitcher and their top two bullpen arms to open 2026 — holes that simply must be filled via trade or free agency.

But another issue arose in 2025. The D-backs' usually-sharp defense was anything but. They made 84 errors, 22 more than 2024.

Not to suggest that the defense was the entire reason for the poor run prevention numbers and ultimate disappointing result, but it did play a factor.

If the D-backs can return to a more defensive identity, they may be able to take a relatively thin pitching staff and do much more with less. The underperformance that plagued Arizona

GM Mike Hazen emphasized that defense as the key to Arizona's pitching improvement in his end-of-season press conference.

Improved Defense Could Help Arizona Diamondbacks in 2026

The D-backs' pitching results were much more palatable in the second half. Arizona's team ERA was a 26th-ranked 4.65 ERA prior to the All-Star Break, and an improved 4.26 figure (19th in MLB) following.

Hazen said those results were at least partly due to improved defense.

"I look back on trying to figure out why that team played as well as it did [in the second half]... on the whole, our defense was considerably different in the second half. I do think that helped smooth out the pitching that we were all very frustrated by in the first half of the season," he said.

"That's something that I take away from the second half. I don't think that the pitching staff in aggregate was more talented than the first-half pitching staff. I think the defense was that much better in the second half."

"As much as we were all complaining about the results of the pitching staff in the first half, it was very difficult for me to tease out where the pitching wasn't up to par and where the defense was below, and those things run in combination with each other," Hazen said.

Hazen knows he needs to pursue pitching in the offseason, but he also said he's looking to "lean into" more of a defensive mindset ahead of 2026.

"That's something that I'm going to look to lean into a little bit more aggressively into the offseason - ensuring that our defense at all eight positions is where we need it to be.

"There's going to be nights that it's not going to be ideal, necessarily, or we're going for an offensive approach... I think we're capable of having a little less thunder in the middle of the lineup if we're offsetting that with a much better defensive team," Hazen said.

Arizona Diamondbacks Latest News