ARIZONA — The Arizona Diamondbacks showed both flashes of promise and familiar frustrations during their four-game split with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. While Corbin Burnes delivered his best outing in a D-backs uniform and the City Connect jerseys added fresh buzz to the ballpark, late-inning bullpen meltdowns continued to haunt Arizona.

Top prospect Jordan Lawlar is set to make his 2025 debut soon, but it’s the inconsistency on the mound that’s stealing the spotlight. Here’s a breakdown of the highs, lows, and biggest takeaways from the weekend, and some more treats you can find in the article! (:

Breaking down the good, bad and ugly from the LAD series

The D-backs split the series against the Dodgers in a 4-game battle at home. During a weekend where they debuted their new City Connects, it had lots more heartbreak unfortunately. Including a blown lead on Friday and just a game on Sunday where the offense couldn’t get anything going.

On Thursday, the Diamondbacks took the first game of the series. After a amazing night by Brandon Pfaadt, where he only allowed 4 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts and didn’t allow a single run through 6.1 IP. His start was complimented by the Diamondbacks getting their bats hot against none other then Yoshiobu Yamamoto, the D-backs had 6 hits, 5 runs and 2 home runs off of Yoshi during 5.0 IP.

Gabriel Moreno and Ketel Marte both got their first homeruns of the season off of Yamamoto, with Moreno’s being a grandslam and Marte’s being a solo shot. The Diamondbacks bats were hot on Thursday with the team batting a combined .290 and only striking out five times.

Friday was unfortunately a different story, Eduardo Rodriguez was set to start, and after his last start where he put up 10k’s. Fans we’re excited to see another EdRod bump day, well after 2.2 IP, Lovullo decided to pull Rodriguez. EdRod’s final line was 2.2 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 HRA.

Sasaki also didn’t have the best of days either, only seeing four innings of play with his final line being 4.0 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 2 HRA.

Despite the loss on Friday, there we’re some huge positives to the game, the bats finally are waking up, more specifically Ketel Marte’s. He’s been in a bit of a slump since returning to injury and i think this game, just showed everyone that he’s back. Marte had 2 homeruns during Friday’s game which is exactly what a player needs to get back in the groove. Expect Marte to start providing more solid AB’s and HR’s as the season rolls on.

Another positive to look at is Christian Mena, Jalen Beeks and Shelby Miller combined relief appearance. They pitched for 5.1 IP, had 7 strikeouts and only allowed a single hit. Those three we’re on lockdown.

Unfortunately the rough appearance from Kevin Ginkel is what sealed it. After a four hits, five run appearance. He left two runners on for Ryan Thompson to try to save the game. At this point, the game was 11-11 with Ohtani up to the plate. Thompson threw him some good pitches but unfortunately left one down-middle and Ohtani clobbered it for a 3-run HR. Diamondbacks lose 14-11.

Saturday was definitely a day to remember, more specifically as a Burnes day. Corbin Burnes got the start after having to miss his previous start due to shoulder inflammation. After receiving his first Cortizone shot of his career. Burnes took the mound on Saturday and absolutely burned the Dodgers.

Burnes final stat line was 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 5 K with only 2 walks. Burnes season ERA is down to a 2.95 and under a 1.95 for his previous three starts. Corbin Burnes is finally starting to find his groove here in Arizona. Then, Ryne Nelson came in to relief pitch and that was the only reliever the Diamondbacks needed. The Diamondbacks also got the win over the Dodgers, a 3-0 shutout victory.

Then Mother’s Day approached, the D-backs opted to wear their City Connects for the third straight day, keeping the home uniforms on the hangers. Unfortunately, the Diamondbacks we’re not able to get much going offensively. The Diamondbacks had only 6 hits, 1 run and left 6 runners on base. While the Dodgers had 8 runs, 18 hits and left 9 on base.

While the offense got caught sleeping, Zac Gallen also didn’t have the best of starts. Gallen through 5.2 innings pitched, allowed 10 hits, 4 runs and 2 walks. He threw 97 pitches and was able to throw a strike for 61% of the time.

The Diamondbacks used Joe Mantiply and Jose Castillo in relief but unfortunately, they both combined for 3.1 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 K, 2 HRA.

Jose Castillo definitely had a appearance to forget, after getting dinged for a Balk three different times. Perdomo during the 2 balk, went up to Castillo and tried to explain to him what he was doing wrong, since the umpires only dinged him for the Balk the first time, and didn’t explain why.

The Diamondbacks offense is starting to pick up but very, very slowly. This series, the Diamondbacks hit for a .263 avg. The Dodgers had a .320 avg this series.

The bullpen also struggled combining for a 8.93 ERA during the series against the Dodgers, and if you take Nelson’s scoreless outing out of the equation, the ERA turns to 10.54. Hopefully some of the call-ups the Diamondbacks will make today, will help the bullpen. Especially since the bullpen is down JMart and A.J. Puk.

May 12th 2025 Call-ups / Injury Update

Nick Piecero reports that the Arizona Diamondbacks will be calling up the #1 ranked prospect in the Diamondbacks farm system, Jordan Lawlar.

Kendall Graveman is also expected to receive the callup after reporter, Jack Sommers saw him throw a bullpen today and had a decent sized travel bag with him.

Decisions are still being made on who will be called down but expect it to be Jose Castillo, (Tim Tawa or Garrett Hampson)

Per source, the Diamondbacks are preparing to also call up Drey Jameson on Tuesday but no confirmation from the team yet.

Justin Martinez also threw a bullpen at Chase Field with the videos i saw, his arm strength looked good and his arm speed looked fast. Expect Martinez to be with the team soon.

A.J Puk is feeling asymptomatic and has not experienced any discomfort. His next step is to begin a throwing program, while he is on the 60-day DL, this is a great sign after Puk had to get some more opinions on the elbow.

Bullpen Struggles

It’s time to have the tough conversation about the Diamondbacks bullpen. It’s struggling once again, and it’s starting to cost the Diamondbacks wins. In a time where the bats are slowly starting to wake up, it’s time for the bullpen to wake up. While i personally think the call-ups of Drey and Graveman will help drastically and then JMart when he returns to injury. It’s still unfortunately a issue. The combined ERA for the bullpen is a 4.99, which isn’t good but isn’t horrible either.

Regardless after Saturday’s game where the Diamondbacks had a 11-8 lead before the top half of the ninth. It’s a problem that needs fixing before the dog days of July-August. Now as of the writing of this article, the Dbacks have had 11 blown games. While offense could’ve done more to come back in those games, one could argue it’s the bullpen’s job to hold the lead down.

Now just imagine what the Diamondbacks record would be without those blown games? (32-9 for whoever was wondering). Hopefully the return of Graveman, JMart and the call up of Drey Jameson will help this bullpen out. Until then, we just have to wait and see.

Giants Series Preview

The Diamondbacks will travel down to San Francisco to open up a 3-game series with the Giants. The probably pitchers for the Giants are set to be Justin Verlander, Robbie Ray and Jordan Hicks.

The Diamondbacks probable pitchers for this series are Merrill Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt and Eduardo Rodriguez.

The Giants have a combined .232 batting average this season with 191 runs scored, 515 total bases and 42 home runs scored. Their top players so far have been Jung Hoo Lee, who is batting a .286, and Heliot Ramos who is batting a .278. The Giants are coming off a series-sweep after dropping three to the Minnesota Twins.

Bullpen Availability for 5/12/25

*awaiting official callup

1 day since last relief	2 days since last relief	3+ days since last relief
Jose Castillo	Ryne Nelson	Kevin Ginkel
Joe Mantiply		Ryan Thompson
		Shelby Miller
		Jalen Beeks
		Kendall Graveman*
		Drey Jameson*

The Diamondbacks will also be looking for the series sweep, as this would put them tied in third place for the NL West with the Giants. The top four teams in the NL West are separated by only six games.

Monday, May 12th – Justin Verlander VS Merrill Kelly

Verlander Career Stats VS D-backs – 8 GP, 48.2 IP, 5-2 W-L, 0 SV, 3.14 ERA, 58 SO, 16 BB

The Diamondbacks are set to face future hall-of-famer, Justin Verlander today, and while he isn’t the same pitcher he once was, he is still extremely nasty with the pitches he puts in the zone and can still strike the batter out. Despite his 4+ ERA, his walk percentage is also up compared to his previous seasons, and players are barreling the ball a whole lot more then he previously has allowed.

Verlander mainly relies on 5 different pitches, Four Seamer (50.0%), Slider (23.3%), Curveball (10.8%), Changeup (8.0%), and a Sweeper (7.9%). He uses his four seamer and his slider against all batters, are mainly reserves his curveball and changeup for righties and his sweeper for lefties. His strike out pitch is either his four-seam or his slider.

He tends to draw more walks against lefties, so if the D-backs lefties can be patient tonight, then watch for the Diamondbacks to make some noise offensively. Verlander has struggled when runners are on the base path this season, so patience will be key for tonight’s game.

Tuesday, May 13th – Robbie Ray VS Brandon Pfaadt

Ray Career Stats VS D-backs – N/A

On Tuesday, the Diamondbacks are projected to face former Arizona Diamondback Robbie Ray, who has been pitching lights out this season. His ERA is the lowest it has been since the 2017 season, with a lot of his 2025 stats, looking very reminiscent to his 2017 season. Ray primarily relies on four pitches, Four Seamer (52.1%), Slider (27.1%), Changeup (11.8%) and a Knuckle Curve (9%).

Left-Handed Batter	2025 STATS/VERLANDER	Right Handed Batter
8.0	Innings Pitched	35.0
39	Batters Faced	142
8	Hits	22
1	Home Runs Allowed	4
7	Walks Allowed	16
9	Strikeouts	37
1.88	WHIP	1.09

Robbie Ray has also been really pitching well with traffic on the bases, Ray has currently faced 101 batters when runners are on a base, and has only allowed 15 hits. It’s going to be very interesting to see how the Diamondbacks fair against the former D-back. The Diamondbacks key to beating Robbie Ray is also just being patient and waiting for their pitch, when he’s behind, Robbie Ray will throw a fastball right down the middle. When he’s ahead, he tends to make batters chase his 4-seamer down and inside so if the Diamondbacks are able to sit back on that. It could be the secret to beating Ray.

Wednesday, May 14th – Jordan Hicks VS Eduardo Rodriguez

Hicks Career Stats VS D-backs – 11 GP, 20.0 IP, 0-0 W-L, 0 SV, 3.60 ERA, 23 SO, 15 BB

Jordan Hicks is in his seventh season in the MLB and while he’s mainly been a reliever for most of his career, he recently converted to a starter back in 2024. Now the Diamondbacks will face him for his first career start against the snakes. Hicks primarily uses four pitches against batters with those being Sinker (54%), Sweeper (32%), 4-Seamer (9%), Splitter (6%).

Hicks mainly uses all of his pitches against LHB, and doesn’t often throw his 4-seamer or his splitter towards RHB as they tend to travel upwards towards the batter. Hicks hasn’t been having the best start to the season with his ERA being at a 5.82, and his BAA against for his sinker is above .300.

Hicks is able to strikeout a batter with any of his pitches so the key to getting the win with Hicks on the mound is, getting runners on the bases. He tends to struggle with runners on the bases so if the D-backs are able to draw walks, and singles. Hicks tends to throw his sinker, which batters are able to hit.

The Diamondbacks can take away Hicks four-seamer from him if they decide to use a right-handed lineup, but that is yet to be set in stone.

Final Thoughts

There’s no sugarcoating it, the Diamondbacks are walking a fine line. The offense is heating up just enough to keep games close, but the bullpen continues to torch those efforts. The weekend split against L.A. exposed both the potential and the flaws of this team.

If Lawlar, Graveman, and Jameson can inject new life into this squad, especially in the bullpen, there’s reason for hope. But if the same pattern continues, this could be another season where Arizona looks back and wonders how many games slipped away late.