Arizona Diamondbacks infielders Garrett Hampton, left, and Tim Tawa take infield practice at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (Photo by Samuel Nute/Cronkite News)
SCOTTSDALE – Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo is looking to exhale in 2025. Last year the ninth-year skipper had to manage injuries for nearly all 162 regular season games, prompting him to say at one point, “I had to hold my breath.”
With spring training winding down and MLB Opening Day looming – the Diamondbacks host a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs at Chase Field beginning March 27 to kick off the 2025 regular season – Arizona fans wonder if this will be the year when they, too, can breathe easy.
At the beginning of the 2024 season, the mood around the team was joyous, with fans extremely optimistic following the team’s 2023 run to the World Series.
Despite playing in the National League West, one of the tougher divisions in the league, things looked up for the Diamondbacks.
Unfortunately for Arizona, things began to spiral out of control rather quickly. Within the first two months, the Diamondbacks had already designated 10 players to the injured list. Some injury stints were longer than others, but nonetheless many significant pieces missed valuable time early on.
(Graphic by Aryton Temcio/Cronkite News)
Of all 30 MLB teams, the Diamondbacks ranked 21st with 1,299 days missed for injury list purposes. Additionally, the Diamondbacks ranked 16th in the MLB in terms of cash total of the number of days missed, paying $32 million to those 19 Diamondbacks players despite their IL stints.
As the collective nature of the injuries piled up, the Diamondbacks missed a return to the postseason on the last day of the regular season.
After dealing with numerous injuries and missing the 2024 MLB playoffs, Luvolllo and general manager Mike Hazen made it their goal to work on the team’s depth.
Two of the biggest moves that came this offseason were the signing of ace pitcher Corbin Burnes and the acquisition of first baseman Josh Naylor.
Naylor comes to the Diamondbacks from Cleveland following the departure of Christian Walker to the Houston Astros. After Merrill Kelly and Jordan Montgomery were injured for a large chunk of last season, the Diamondbacks added Burnes to further the depth that they have at the position.
Kelly noted that he thinks the team “will be in a good spot” this season following the offseason moves.
“The more (pitchers) the better. I think with how we did last year, if we would have stayed healthy by the end of the year it would have been a different ballgame,” Kelly said. “If we can stay healthy with the additions that we have made, I think we will be in a good spot.”
Additionally, after the Guardians did not offer a contract extension to Naylor, the Diamondbacks elected to make the move to grab him in a trade.
Naylor had a career year in 2024, making his first All-Star team while hitting .243 with 31 home runs. Still, there is one thing that might stand out about him above the rest.
Despite having played in the MLB for six seasons, Naylor has only tallied a grand total of six games at Chase Field. In those 10 games, Naylor doesn’t have a single home run. But his small number of at-bats at Chase Field doesn’t faze him.
“I’m not focused on metrics or dimensions right now. I got to just try to play my game and if it goes out it goes out, if it doesn’t it doesn’t,” Naylor said.
Of all the signings the Diamondbacks made this offseason, one player might be able to help more than anyone.
Garrett Hampson signed a minor league contract with the Diamondbacks on Jan. 31. Hampson is what MLB players and fans like to call a “super utility player.”
Throughout Hampson’s seven-year career, he has played every position except for catcher – that’s right, he has even pitched in a game before.
Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Garrett Hampton takes infield practice at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (Photo by Samuel Nute/Cronkite News)
Of the 630 games that Hampson has appeared in he has played one game at pitcher, eight games at first base, 177 games at second base, 16 games at third base, 104 games at shortstop, 47 games in left field, 257 games in center field and 28 games in right field.
Luckily for the Diamondbacks, Hampson can fill any role besides catcher if injuries again strike the team. Hampson likely will not pitch unless the game is a blowout, but he can actively fill all other seven positions.
“I take pride in being versatile, being that value for a team. I work hard at all the positions. … I try to stay sharp on all those different types of skill sets and I take pride in being that guy,” Hampson said.
Hampson mentioned that he is not the only player who can play multiple positions.
“I think they definitely want to build off depth and a lot of these players can play different positions,” Hampson said.
The likes of Randal Grichuk, Pavin Smith and each of the outfield starters last season all moved around the diamond throughout 2024.
With the flexibility of players across the diamond, Lovullo has some tough decisions to make in the coming weeks.
“I like that we have these problems. It means we have a good team,” Luvollo said.
