Happy Opening Day Eve, baseball fans. The season is, indeed, nearly upon us. It’s the perfect time to make some predictions for the 2023 MLB season. If you weren’t already aware, PHNX is not a singular operation. We are part of the ALLCITY Network, which also has branches in Denver (DNVR) and Chicago (CHGO). That means that we have credentialed, BBWAA-official writers across the country covering the Rockies, Cubs, White Sox and, of course, the Diamondbacks. Over the past week, I collaborated with my ALLCITY Network colleagues to assemble our predictions for the 2023 season, from which teams will play in the NL Wild Card round, to who takes home the AL MVP, to who wins the NL Manager of…

Since spring training began, right-hander Drey Jameson did everything he could to land the elusive fifth spot in the Diamondbacks’ rotation. But he was also adamant that he wasn’t going to lose sleep over it. “I can only do what I can do, and I’m going to do everything in my power.” he said on March 4. “But at the end of the day, I don’t make decisions.” Ultimately, the decision didn’t go Jameson’s way. The fifth starter job went to his former roommate, Ryne Nelson. And instead of being sent down to start for Triple-A Reno, Jameson is destined for uncharted territory: the bullpen. “You might know more than me,” Jameson said, when asked about the transition from starter…

With Thursday’s season opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers now less than week away, it is time to make one last attempt at projecting the Diamondbacks 2023 Opening Day roster. Surely, this time, we will get it right. A lot has happened since our last roster projection story. Namely, Corbin Martin tore his lat tendon in his right shoulder, which will almost certainly sideline him for the 2023 season. Mark Melancon will be out several months with a subscapularis strain. And, most recently, catcher Carson Kelly fractured his right forearm when he was hit by a pitch in Monday’s game. He will almost certainly miss all of April, and possibly more. It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the…

Baseball in March is often defined by early-game substitutions, unfamiliar names on backs of jerseys and games that have little to no meaning. All of that is okay; spring training is necessary. But, for Merrill Kelly, March baseball has looked quite different. For a little under two weeks, he was, in a sense, no longer a Diamondback. He was a member of Team USA. And, on Tuesday, instead of pitching in a non-televised game at Salt River Fields in front of 6,000 fans, Kelly started the World Baseball Classic championship game against Team Japan, with over 36,000 fans in attendance and nearly five million Americans tuning in. https://twitter.com/MLBONFOX/status/1638323233375105025?s=20 “It was incredible,” Kelly said, “from start to finish, just being able…

Wednesday was a weird day for the Diamondbacks. They were scheduled to play two games. They wound up playing less than half of one, as their afternoon game against the San Francisco Giants was rained out entirely and their night game against the Milwaukee Brewers was called in the fourth inning. Despite playing less than four innings of baseball, the Diamondbacks suffered their most troubling day of spring training on the injury front. Geraldo Perdomo, Diego Castillo, Corbin Martin and Mark Melancon were all banged up in some shape or form. While Perdomo and Castillo have already returned to Cactus League action following an infield collision, Martin and Melancon will both miss considerable time with shoulder injuries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJd_ct4N4Bs Melancon is…

If you have attended a baseball game at Chase Field in the past 10 years, chances are you sat down to a scattered crowd of around 20,000 laid-back observers. You likely experienced short concessions lines and a high-five from Baxter, and your hearing was fully intact when you exited the ballpark. The scene on Sunday for Team USA versus Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic was quite different. There were deafening “U-S-A” chants before the first pitch was thrown, many of which were countered with even more deafening “Mé-xi-co” chants from impassioned mobs of green and red. There were spontaneous breakouts of Mexican folk song ‘Cielito Lindo.’ There were noisemaking devices that very well could have been outlawed during…

Thirty-two games into his major-league career, outfielder Corbin Carroll has signed the largest contract extension in Diamondbacks history. According to MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert, the deal is for eight years and $111 million. It also includes a club option for 2031 and performance escalators that could bring the total value of the deal up to nine years and $154 million. Carroll was already under control through 2028, so the deal gives the Diamondbacks cost certainty for 2023-28 and tacks on three additional years of club control from 2029-31. For Carroll, the deal gives certainty of life-changing money and still allows him to enter free agency at age 31. The extension falls in line with a recent trend of MLB teams extending…

With Cactus League play nearing its midway point and the season opener now just three weeks away, the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day roster is coming into focus. Although the team still has 62 players in major-league camp, nailing down that list of 26 players is not as difficult as it might seem. It appears that most of it was set in stone before spring training began. The relative lack of open competitions in spring camp is a good sign for the D-backs. More players are established at their positions, and players who might have been considered for roles in recent years have been forced to depart for other organizations to find those opportunities. The bar has been raised. While there aren’t…

With only 10 Cactus League games in the books, it is too early to declare a winner for the Diamondbacks’ fifth starting rotation spot. But, based on the numbers, two youngsters have already separated themselves: right-handed flamethrower Drey Jameson and top pitching prospect Brandon Pfaadt. In two starts, Jameson has pitched four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk with three strikeouts. Pfaadt has pitched five scoreless innings in his two appearances, allowing just two hits and two walks with six strikeouts. By comparison, fellow rotation candidates Tommy Henry and Ryne Nelson have struggled mightily. https://twitter.com/PHNX_Dbacks/status/1632125401727373313?s=20 Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. Pitchers often throw more than 20 innings in the Cactus League. At the moment, no…