Introduction
One of the many reasons for the D-Backs’ disappointing 2025 season? Their defense is terribly ugly. It seemed like a constant refrain throughout the season’s broadcasts when Steve Berthiaume or Bob Brenly would comment on how defensive lapses or mistakes were driving a manager like Torey Lovullo crazy. This ugliness caught my eye early and never really seemed resolved throughout the season. Unfortunately, none of Torey’s mental anguish or pleading seemed to make much of a difference. I don’t want to exaggerate the problem. It’s not like their defense is terrible – depending on your preferred metric, they ranked somewhere between 11th in the majors according to FanGraph’s. defensive rating ranked 24th by Baseball Reference’s defensive runs recorded. But these rankings are both a significant step down from the previous year, when the D-Backs were first in the rankings. last and seventh by the ancient en route to an 89-73 record. Obviously, that’s not the only factor explaining their skid between the two seasons, but now that spring training is upon us, the team’s defense will be under intense scrutiny – especially since none of the players projected members of the rotation will likely be strikeout artists and instead rely on strong defense to keep runs off the plate. So what improvements can be made to ensure this happens?
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List improvement
There would still be at least some defensive regression by trading Josh Naylor for Christian Walker at first base. While Naylor isn’t bad in the field — he finished 13th in the league with 1 out above average (OAA) in 2024 — he’s nowhere near the 13 OAAs that Walker product that year. Ironically, Walker took a significant step back both offensively and defensively last year – enough that he and Naylor are tied in terms of defensive value. Now that Naylor has found his new home in Seattle (along with his in a distracting way cute dog), the D-Backs needed another first baseman alongside Pavin Smith – enter Carlos Santana. While Santana’s most significant offensive contributions are likely behind him in his improbably long career, he and his 8 OAAs represent significant improvements defensively over Naylor – and don’t forget (as I did) that he’s only two years removed from a Gold Glove caliber season at cold corner. On the diagonal side of the diamond, Nolan Arenado has long been a defensive wizard at the hot corner even though his contributions at the plate continue to decline with age. In contrast, Eugenio Suarez has been a negative defender at third base for most of his career – notably leading the league in errors in two separate seasons. That’s perfectly fine when he hits four home runs in a game, but it becomes less acceptable when he posts a measly .189/.255/.428 slash line. It’s a deliberate choice by the front office to trade offense for defense while banking on the combination of Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll to take over offensively. It’s an understandable and perhaps interesting trade, but it’s a gamble based on the aforementioned trio maintaining their respective offensive ceilings – a gamble that may already be in jeopardy given Carroll’s position. hamate injury.
Individual improvement
While the roster changes above should, at least on paper, improve the team’s defense, they still likely won’t allow the team to reach the heights it has during this 2023-24 stretch. For that to happen, they will likely need some growth from some of their existing players, especially younger ones who are still looking to fully establish themselves. In my mind, this dynamic particularly applies to Perdomo and Gabriel Moreno. Last season was undoubtedly Perdomo’s unexpected (for me at least) breakout from major league solid to legitimate star. And even though he was good on the field, he checked in at 16th for defensive WAR among shortstops last year and accumulating 5 OAAthere may still be room for improvement as he continues to gain confidence and additional comfort at the position. There probably isn’t as much room for improvement for Moreno, who has been an absolute beast defensively since arriving from the Blue Jays in the 2022-23 offseason. For the young Venezuelan, it has more to do with his durability and ability to stay on the field as he has played 100 or more games just once – in his inaugural season with the team. Obviously, catching is an inherently difficult and physically taxing position and the number of catchers who exceed this threshold is not significant. incredibly long, but it’s important. Unfortunately, Moreno was completely snake bitten (pun intended) with injuries, losing time due to shoulder inflammation (three weeks), one thumb sprain (ten days), one adductor strain (six weeks), and last year’s finger fracture it ultimately cost him over two months of playing time. When he’s on the field, he can be a game-changer with his bat and arm bringing down baserunners – it’s just the first part that’s been tough.
