The Diamondbacks head into the All-Star break with something they badly needed: proof that the season still has some bite left in it.
That wasn’t a given. In one version of this story, Arizona is staggering into the pause after getting swept by the Dodgers in Los Angeles, the kind of flat, ugly stretch that can drain a clubhouse and put a manager on the hottest seat in the sport.
In that alternate script, Torey Lovullo could be staring at the end of the line. Instead, the D-backs are carrying momentum, attitude and a little swagger into the break.
A lot of that comes back to what happened in Los Angeles. For Arizona fans, beating the Dodgers always lands hard.
Sweeping them on their own field right before the break hits differently. It wasn’t just a division win.
It felt like the kind of series that reminds everybody what this team can look like when the energy is there, the dugout is alive and the lineup plays with confidence.
That same sense of overachievement is showing up in the numbers, too. The bullpen has been a major part of it.
The group owns a 4.00 collective ERA and sits 14th in baseball, which is only a hair above league average. On paper, that’s not a dominant unit.
In context, it’s a huge reason Arizona is still standing. If the 2024 Diamondbacks had the 14th-ranked bullpen in the majors, they might have won 100 games and the World Series.
That’s how much this group has outperformed expectations.
Around the league, Jordan Walker had his own spotlight moment on Monday night, and he made it count. Walker won the Home Run Derby by blasting Kyle Schwarber in the final round, closing with homers on each of his last four do-or-die swings and quieting the Philadelphia crowd in the process. It was the kind of finish that turns a hot night into a memorable one.
The All-Star stage also brought together a group of players who were linked long before they became major-league names. CJ Abrams, Corbin Carroll, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Riley Greene and Bobby Witt Jr. were all part of the Team USA squad that won gold in the 2018 COPABE U-18 Pan-American Championship, and now they’re sharing MLB’s biggest midsummer spotlight.
Carroll said, “There are conversations that occurred on that team where you talk about maybe one day getting to meet again in the big leagues,” Carroll said. “To now actually do it, it’s very cool.
Anytime during the regular season where we’re playing against one of them, or something like this where we get to come together, I find it really special.”
There was also a personal moment for Eduardo Rodríguez on the National League All-Star bus. Chris Sale made sure to point him out when Rodríguez boarded Monday morning, calling him out as a longtime teammate and friend.
“When I was on the bus today, I was sitting next to Drake and I said, ‘There he is!’ and he asked who I was talking about,” Sale said.
“I said, ‘That’s Eddie Rodríguez making his first All-Star Game.’ That guy was like my little brother for seven years.
I’m proud of him and happy for him.”
Elsewhere, the labor side of baseball’s future stayed front and center. Paul Skenes, Juan Soto and Bryce Harper were among the All-Stars saying players will never agree to a salary cap, even as they insisted there’s still time to avoid a fight that could cut into the 2027 season.
“Both sides kind of have their line that they’re not going to cross,” Skenes, who sits on the union’s eight-man negotiating committee, said Monday. “Whether that results in missing games or missing a season, we’ll see.”
And Luis Arraez made his own stance clear as trade talk swirls. He said he’s open to discussing a new deal to stay in San Francisco, but if he’s moved, he wants to remain at second base.
“This is a business, so whatever team wants to give me the opportunity to help, it’s going to be at second base,” Arraez told reporters. “I don’t like to go back to first base; I prepared my mind, I prepared my body to only play second base.
One hundred percent, I’m staying at second base.”
In Other News...
Diamondbacks Enter A Defining Stretch With Deadline Pressure Rising
With the trade deadline closing in, the Diamondbacks are stuck in the kind of in-between spot front offices dread. Mike Hazen has made it clear Arizona is hovering around .500 and still trying to figure out whether this team should lean into the race or start thinking more about the future, which makes the next few weeks feel especially important for a club with real postseason ambitions and obvious flaws to address.
First base stands out as the most obvious place to upgrade if Arizona decides to buy, and the current mix there has not given the lineup much stability. The bigger question is whether the Diamondbacks can get enough healthy pitching back to justify pushing forward, because the second half is already carrying some uncertainty and the deadline could force Hazen to choose between adding help, moving pieces, or doing a little of both. [Read more 🡒]
Corbin Carroll And Eduardo Rodriguez Put The Diamondbacks On Center Stage
Corbin Carroll and Eduardo Rodriguez will give the Diamondbacks a rare national spotlight at the All-Star Game, with both players representing a club that has spent the season trying to reinforce its place among the games better teams. For Carroll, the stage offers a chance to see how his swing holds up against elite pitching and maybe carry some confidence back into the second half, while Rodriguez gets the kind of showcase every pitcher wants, with top hitters waiting on the other side.
The real intrigue for Arizona is not just that two of its key players made the trip, but how they are used once the game starts to unfold. Carrolls at-bats will be watched for signs of rhythm and momentum, and Rodriguezs outing will draw attention based on when he enters and what kind of traffic, if any, he has to navigate. For a franchise still trying to turn progress into something more lasting, even a midsummer exhibition can feel like a small statement. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Hazens First Round Record Looks Better Than Some Fans Think
Mike Hazens first-round track record in Arizona looks a little different when it is measured beyond the usual instant-gratification debate. Since he took over as general manager, most of the clubs first-rounders have reached the majors in short order, and the overall group has been close enough to the industry norm that the picture is not nearly as bleak as some fans might assume. The bigger question is not just who got there, but who has actually moved the needle once they arrived.
Corbin Carroll has already separated himself from the rest of the class, while Drey Jameson and Bryce Jarvis are the only other Hazen first-rounders who have produced positive value so far. Even so, there is still some unfinished business in the group, with Ryan Waldschmidt, Jordan Lawlar and Tommy Troy all carrying the kind of remaining upside that could change the final accounting if they turn into real contributors. [Read more 🡒]