The Diamondbacks are moving on from pitching coach Brian Kaplan after his two-year contract expires, according to Steve Gilbert of MLB.com.
Kaplan’s run in Arizona was his first as a lead pitching coach. Before that, he spent three seasons with the Phillies as an assistant pitching coach. The Diamondbacks brought him in during the 2024-25 offseason to take over for Brent Strom.
Arizona’s pitching results under Kaplan never really found steady ground. Since the start of 2025, the staff ranks 22nd in ERA at 4.34 and sits ahead of only the Rockies in strikeout percentage at 19.8%.
The story was much the same in both seasons. This year, the starters in particular had a hard time missing bats, checking in 29th in strikeout rate and 28th in whiff percentage.
The roster churn and injuries didn’t help. Corbin Burnes was sidelined for most of the past two years.
A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez both missed much of 2025-26 while rehabbing elbow surgeries.
Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen are also coming off the worst seasons of their careers.
Still, there were bright spots mixed in with the uneven results. Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt turned in solid seasons even without big strikeout numbers.
Michael Soroka delivered on a $7.5MM free agent deal, helped by a cutter he and the club introduced this year. In the bullpen, Juan Morillo and Brandyn Garcia emerged in leverage spots, and Jonathan Loáisiga got back to being a quality ground-ball arm.
Torey Lovullo signed a new two-year contract with the Diamondbacks at the end of the regular season, but he wouldn’t say then whether changes were coming on the coaching staff. Gilbert reports that further staff moves are still up in the air.
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Diamondbacks Suddenly Have A Real First Base Fight Next Season
Arizonas first base picture has gone from a settled spot to one of the more interesting roster questions on the table for next season. For years, the Diamondbacks had a clear answer there with Paul Goldschmidt and later Christian Walker handling the bulk of the work, but this season the position was shared and the production lagged behind the league standard. Ildemaro Vargas ended up leading the club in games at first base, which says plenty about how fluid the situation became.
Now the Diamondbacks are staring at a genuine competition instead of a placeholder. Tim Tawa, Pavin Smith, Manuel Pena and Jose Fernandez all fit somewhere in the mix as current or possible first base options, and the challenge for Arizona will be turning that group into reliable everyday value. It is a much different conversation than the one this franchise has had at the position in recent seasons, and the answer may not be obvious by the time spring training arrives. [Read more 🡒]