<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-zac-gallen-13-yankees-cold-weather-advantage');   ga('set', 'title', 'Zac Gallen rings up 13 Yankees thanks to cold-weather ‘advantage’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Diamondbacks-pitcher-Zac-Gallen.jpg"><figcaption>Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Zac Gallen rings up 13 Yankees thanks to cold-weather ‘advantage’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-03T06:02:56-07:00">April 3rd, 6:02am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-03T06:02:56-07:00">April 3rd, 6:02am</time><address><a>Nathan Yasis</a>Nathan Yasis is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints, specializing in the NBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Zac Gallen matched his career high with 13 strikeouts, leading the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/new-york-yankees/yankees-news-aaron-boone-gets-real-diamondbacks-zac-gallen-after-4-3-loss">Arizona Diamondbacks to a 4-3 win over the New York Yankees</a> on a cold, rainy night in the Bronx. After a rough Opening Day, Gallen found his rhythm Wednesday, retiring 11 straight batters and keeping New York off balance with his sharp knuckle curve.</p><p>Gallen bounced back from his Opening Day loss to the Cubs, giving up just three hits without a walk. He racked up 10 of his 13 strikeouts with his knuckle curve and remained unbeaten against the Yankees, improving to 3-0.</p><p>“I mean, for me, I grew up in it, so it kind of takes me back to being a kid, you know, mainly high school. You know, the first day of practice is March 1 and the first game is usually March 31 so you’re playing in this weather for three weeks, maybe a month. So yeah, for me, I try to use it to my advantage a little bit with how I gameplan, how I’m gonna attack the hitters,” Gallen <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/zac-gallen-strikes-out-13-yankees-in-d-backs-win" rel="noopener">said in an interview</a> via MLB.com</p><p>Gallen kept the details of his approach under wraps, avoiding specifics on how cold weather influences his game plan.</p><h2><b>Zac Gallen dominating the Yankees</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Zac-Galllen-pitching-for-the-Diamondbacks.jpg"><figcaption>Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Diamondbacks pitcher dominated for 6.2 scoreless innings, surrendering just three hits without a walk. He threw 101 pitches, 64 for strikes. the Diamondbacks wasted no time against Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón, scoring four runs in the first two innings. While Rodón lasted six frames, all the damage had already been done.</p><p>The Yankees’ best chance against Gallen came in the second inning when Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off with a single and reached third after Austin Wells doubled with one out. However, Gallen shut down the rally by striking out the next two batters to escape unscathed.</p><p>Gallen praised catcher Gabriel Moreno for staying in sync with him, particularly during the second-inning jam. While Gallen has often called many of his own pitches using the PitchCom device, he relied on it for only about six of his 101 pitches in this outing.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-ketel-marte-agrees-116-5m-guaranteed-extension">Center fielder Ketel Marte</a> drew a leadoff walk before Lourdes Gurriel Jr. crushed Rodon’s 94.2 mph four-seam fastball into the second deck, giving the Diamondbacks an early 2-0 lead. The homer was Gurriel Jr.’s second of the season and ended a frustrating slump against the Yankees, as he had gone hitless in his previous 34 at-bats against them.</p><p>Arizona’s offense started strong but faded, going hitless over the last seven innings. After Rodon left the mound, Yoendrys Gomez took over and shut down the D-backs, tossing three hitless innings in relief for the Yankees.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Zac Gallen rings up 13 Yankees thanks to cold-weather ‘advantage’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/new-york-yankees/yankees-news-aaron-boone-gets-real-diamondbacks-zac-gallen-after-4-3-loss');   ga('set', 'title', 'Aaron Boone gets 100% real about Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen after 4-3 loss');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Yankees-news-Aaron-Boone-gets-100-real-about-Diamondbacks-Zac-Gallen-after-4-3-loss.jpg"></figure><h1>Aaron Boone gets 100% real about Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen after 4-3 loss</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-02T21:19:38-07:00">April 2nd, 9:19pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-02T21:19:38-07:00">April 2nd, 9:19pm</time><address><a>Brayden Haena</a>Brayden Haena is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He's a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan and a football fanatic. In addition to sports writing, he works for Arizona Football in the Player Personnel and Recruiting department and formerly served as the Defensive Coordinator for Heritage High School.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Zac Gallen was electric on Wednesday night in the Bronx, and even Yankees manager <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/yankees-news-aaron-boone-explains-removing-jasson-dominguez-late-games">Aaron Boone had no choice but to tip his cap</a> to the Diamondbacks’ ace following a 4-3 Arizona victory.</p><p>“He was really dealing,” Boone said postgame when asked about what made Gallen so effective.</p><p>https://twitter.com/YESNetwork/status/1907614417413415286</p><p>That might be an understatement. Gallen tied a career-high with 13 strikeouts, allowed just three hits, didn’t issue a single walk, and carved through a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/yankees-news-obliterate-home-run-record-scoring-hot-start-2025">Yankees lineup featuring stars like Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger</a>. Over 6 2/3 shutout innings, he collected an <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/zac-gallen-strikes-out-13-yankees-in-d-backs-win" rel="noopener">eye-popping 24 swings and misses</a> — the most in any start of his career.</p><p>On a frigid, blustery night with temperatures hovering in the low 40s and wind chills making it feel much colder, Gallen took the mound in short sleeves — a nod to his New Jersey roots and cold-weather high school days. If the Yankees were hoping the elements would give them a leg up, Gallen quickly erased those hopes.</p><h2>Yankees’ late rally not enough as D-backs hold on</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Zac-Gallen.jpg"><figcaption>Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>“I try to use it to my advantage,” Gallen said of the weather. “Growing up in this, it kind of takes me back to being a kid.”</p><p>He wasted no time attacking the zone, striking out reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge three times and navigating his only real jam in the second inning with back-to-back strikeouts to strand runners at second and third. Gallen credited his catcher Gabriel Moreno, who called nearly the entire game — a rarity, as Gallen often uses PitchCom to call pitches himself.</p><p>“Gabi had a real good feel for what they were trying to do,” Gallen said. “We both prepped a pretty good amount to kind of understand what we had to do to get those guys.”</p><p>The Diamondbacks gave Gallen an early cushion, scoring four runs in the first two innings off Yankees starter Carlos Rodón. A two-run homer from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the first and RBI contributions from Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte in the second helped Arizona secure its first-ever regular season series win at Yankee Stadium.</p><p>Despite Arizona’s bats going silent after the second inning, Gallen’s dominance kept the Yankees off the scoreboard until the ninth. Boone and the Yankees managed a rally against the D-backs bullpen, as Anthony Volpe lifted a three-run homer off A.J. Puk to bring New York within one run. But Puk held firm, striking out Jasson Dominguez to seal the win and ensure Gallen’s brilliance didn’t go to waste.</p><p>For Boone, there was no denying the impact Gallen had on the outcome.</p><p>“He had good stuff, obviously the fastball had life, the breaking ball was sharp,” Boone said. “You could tell he was in rhythm early and when he’s on like that, he’s tough.”</p><p>With this bounce-back outing after a rocky Opening Day, Gallen once again reminded the league why he’s firmly entrenched among baseball’s elite arms — even in the cold, even in the Bronx, and even against the New York Yankees.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Aaron Boone gets 100% real about Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen after 4-3 loss

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-ketel-marte-agrees-116-5m-guaranteed-extension');   ga('set', 'title', 'Diamondbacks, Ketel Marte agree to $116.5M guaranteed extension');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Ketel-Marte-agrees-to-116.jpg"></figure><h1>Diamondbacks, Ketel Marte agree to $116.5M guaranteed extension</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-02T14:21:39-07:00">April 2nd, 2:21pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-02T14:42:01-07:00">April 2nd, 2:42pm</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Arizona Diamondbacks and Ketel Marte’s relationship will keep on keeping on. After <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/mlb-rumors-diamondbacks-ketel-marte-discussing-lucrative-contract-extension">Marte was seeking a lucrative contract</a>, he got his wish.</p><p>According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Marte and the club <a href="https://x.com/JonHeyman/status/1907538789200691499" rel="noopener">agreed</a> to a $116.5 million extension that will keep him with the team until at least 2030.</p><p>Marte has been one of the best players on the Diamondbacks, and all of baseball. For starters, he placed third in MVP voting after a remarkable season.</p><p>At the plate, he batted .292 with a career-high 36 home runs and 95 RBIs. He was the offensive engine for the Diamondbacks when they were in a rut. Now, the team will keep one of the cornerstones for the next handful of seasons.</p><p>For Arizona, they are looking to head back to the World Series. After a spontaneous run, they are hoping to build on that. Signing guys like Jordan Montgomery and Corbin Burnes have proved that mantra.</p><p>However, losing a guy like Christian Walker is hard to stomach. Regardless of that, the amount of talent the Diamondbacks have in the farm system is outrageous.</p><p>A guy like Dru Jones is eagerly awaiting his opportunity. Furthermore, players like Gabriel Moreno and Geraldo Perdomo have been essential for rounding out the depth of the team.</p><h2><b>Ketel Marte is committed to the Diamondbacks</b></h2><p>Putting pen to paper for Marte’s long-term career was much needed. Besides Corbin Carroll, Marte has been the de facto option. He has been the most consistent player for the team over the past few seasons.</p><p>Fans, teammates, coaches, and executives know what they are getting from him. Plus, the <a href="https://blogs.fangraphs.com/theres-something-i-ought-to-tell-you-about-ketel-marte/" rel="noopener">ability to be a switch hitter</a> doesn’t hurt either.</p><p>Although <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-ketel-marte-makes-promise-after-ankle-injury-scare">Marte was dealing with an ankle injury</a> last season, it’s safe to say that was a thing of the past. His durability might be a concern, but with the amount of depth the Diamondbacks have, it won’t be an issue.</p><p>Furthermore, securing a contract of this magnitude prevents him from being poached away. Arizona is committed to loyal players and wants to reward them fruitfully.</p><p>Marte has joined that list and will be an exclusive part of the success moving forward. With a stacked National League West, they don’t have an easy road.</p><p>However, having the core group of players under contract for an extensive period is a plus. After the Diamondbacks upset the Yankees on Tuesday, they might call on Marte to be the catalyst for more wins, following his contract extension.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Diamondbacks, Ketel Marte agree to $116.5M guaranteed extension

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/new-york-yankees/yankees-news-new-york-fans-josh-naylor-costly-error');   ga('set', 'title', 'Yankees fans clown Josh Naylor after costly error');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/New-York-fans-clown-Josh-Naylor-after-costly-error.jpg"></figure><h1>Yankees fans clown Josh Naylor after costly error</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-01T18:25:14-07:00">April 1st, 6:25pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-01T18:25:14-07:00">April 1st, 6:25pm</time><address><a>Christopher Hennessy</a>Christopher Hennessy graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022. He has also worked at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders writer. Chris is originally from Connecticut and is a lifelong New York Yankees, Islanders, and Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks are opening a three-game series in The Bronx on Tuesday. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/diamondbacks-news-corbin-burnes-shocking-210-million-contract-arizona">Game 1 featured Arizona ace Corbin Burnes</a> against New York rookie Will Warren on the mound in a tight game early. After Anthony Volpe hit his third homer of the season, the Bombers tied the game at 2. With two runners on, Diamondbacks first baseman Josh Naylor committed an error that let both Yankees runners score. Fans <a href="https://x.com/TalkinYanks/status/1907227272764956963" rel="noopener">had fun at his expense</a>, continuing a years-long rivalry.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Yanks get 2 runs on a MASSIVE error by Josh Naylor! <a href="https://t.co/FJNC6fTICD">pic.twitter.com/FJNC6fTICD</a></p><p>— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) <a href="https://twitter.com/TalkinYanks/status/1907227272764956963?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Yankees third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera hit a grounder to Naylor, who sailed the flip to Burnes. Austin Wells scored from third and Jasson Dominguez came around from second. Those were two key runs for the Yankees, and their fans took to social media to clown Naylor.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">His downfall has been GLORIOUS LMAOOOO <a href="https://t.co/vf7Sv0jEhX">pic.twitter.com/vf7Sv0jEhX</a></p><p>— Devon (3-0 Yankees) (@Dev2Trilll) <a href="https://twitter.com/Dev2Trilll/status/1907227404415963322?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>@nicke22rocks <a href="https://x.com/nicke22rocks/status/1907228521333731605" rel="noopener">posted simply</a>, “We own that fraud.”</p><p>@jherb1323 <a href="https://x.com/jherb1323/status/1907232726018556247" rel="noopener">referenced the long-standing</a> feud between Naylor and the Yankees. “Let’s hope he’s more careful when he’s rocking babies, if anyone would let their child be held by this being in the first place.”</p><p>During the 2022 American League Division Series, Josh Naylor hit a home run off of Gerrit Cole as a member of the Guardians. As he rounded the bases, he celebrated with the “rock the baby” celebration. The Yankees and their fans did not take kindly to it, and the rivalry was born. When then-second baseman Gleyber Torres caught the final out of the series, he rocked his own baby.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="qme"> <a href="https://t.co/AGM6He7r1p">pic.twitter.com/AGM6He7r1p</a></p><p>— Frohausen (@frospice) <a href="https://twitter.com/frospice/status/1907227421423632876?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Even though <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/diamondbacks-news-acquires-josh-naylor-trade-guardians">Naylor is on the Diamondbacks now,</a> Yankees fans do not forget the trash talking. It came up last year when Cleveland and New York faced off in the ALCS, but Naylor did not break out the celebration again. This is the only matchup between the Yankees and Diamondbacks this year, so the fans took advantage.</p><p>The two teams return to the field Wednesday at 7 p.m. Eastern.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Yankees fans clown Josh Naylor after costly error

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/mlb-rumors-diamondbacks-ketel-marte-discussing-lucrative-contract-extension');   ga('set', 'title', 'MLB rumors: Diamondbacks, Ketel Marte discussing lucrative contract extension');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Diamondbacks-Ketel-Marte-discussing-lucrative-contract-extension.jpg"></figure><h1>MLB rumors: Diamondbacks, Ketel Marte discussing lucrative contract extension</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-01T18:01:48-07:00">April 1st, 6:01pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-01T18:01:48-07:00">April 1st, 6:01pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-ketel-marte-franchise-history-world-series-game-1-vs-rangers">Arizona Diamondbacks have built one of the best offenses</a> in all of MLB, and at the heart of their efforts is 31-year-old second baseman Ketel Marte, who is entering the 2025 season coming off one of the best campaigns of his career in 2024. Marte has been nothing but productive during his stint in the Valley, and it looks like the Diamondbacks are looking to reward him financially in the coming days.</p><p>According to MLB insider Mike Rodriguez, via Hector Gomez of Z101, Marte and the Diamondbacks are “<a href="https://x.com/hgomez27/status/1907225583374717056" rel="noopener">working on</a> a contract extension worth over $100 million”. It’s not quite clear for how long this potential contract extension would be running, but with the second baseman under contract until at least the end of the 2027 season (with a club option for 2028), any extension will begin from when Marte is already 35 years of age.</p><p>Marte is one of the best second basemen in the league, and a premium is usually paid to keep the services of an elite middle infielder. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-arizonas-contract-plan-for-franchise-star-ketel-marte-revealed">Diamondbacks are also going to be rewarding Marte’s consistency</a>, as he seems to be getting better with age. He is currently set to make an average of around $15 million over the next four seasons, and perhaps the best way to keep him motivated is to reward him with a contract that more aptly matches his level of production.</p><p>The 31-year-old second baseman is off to a solid start to the 2025 season. Through four games, Marte has six hits in 21 plate appearances while scoring four runs. He is yet to get on the board in the power department, but it is early days in the season, and he should be back to his power-hitting ways in no time.</p><h2><b>Ketel Marte, a Diamondbacks fixture for a decade</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Ketel-Marte.jpg"><figcaption>Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Barring an unforeseen decision from the Diamondbacks to trade away one of their best hitters, Ketel Marte is going to be a fixture of the Arizona infield for a decade. And what a major win it was for the Diamondbacks to get one of the more consistent infielders in the entire league in a trade that cost them Mitch Haniger, Jean Segura, and Zac Curtis.</p><p>Marte has recorded 26.1 WAR (per Fangraphs) thus far for the Diamondbacks, and he’s still in the middle of the prime years of his career. Arizona would want nothing more than to keep him satisfied as he continues to play a starring role for the team moving forward.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

MLB rumors: Diamondbacks, Ketel Marte discussing lucrative contract extension

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-the-major-corbin-burnes-mistake-diamondbacks-made-when-setting-2025-starting-rotation');   ga('set', 'title', 'The major Corbin Burnes mistake Diamondbacks made when setting 2025 starting rotation');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Diamondbacks-news-The-major-Corbin-Burnes-mistake-Arizona-made-when-setting-2025-starting-rotation.jpg"></figure><h1>The major Corbin Burnes mistake Diamondbacks made when setting 2025 starting rotation</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-30T23:36:28-07:00">March 30th, 11:36pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-31T15:09:42-07:00">March 31st, 3:09pm</time><address><a>Brayden Haena</a>Brayden Haena is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He's a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan and a football fanatic. In addition to sports writing, he works for Arizona Football in the Player Personnel and Recruiting department and formerly served as the Defensive Coordinator for Heritage High School.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/diamondbacks-news-corbin-burnes-shocking-210-million-contract-arizona">Arizona Diamondbacks made headlines this offseason by signing Corbin Burnes</a> to a six-year, $210 million deal — the largest free-agent contract in franchise history. But before he even threw a pitch for his new club, Arizona stumbled out of the gate with a misstep that rival executives have been quick to criticize. <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2025/03/30/bruce-bochy-brian-snitker-mlb-managers/82723066007/" rel="noopener">The issue?</a> Miscommunication — or perhaps lack of communication — between manager Torey Lovullo and his new ace.</p><p>When the D-backs delayed naming an Opening Day starter until just days before the season began, it created a ripple effect in Burnes’ preparation. Lovullo ultimately went with Zac Gallen to start Opening Day against the Cubs, but by then it was too late to shift <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/diamondbacks-news-d-backs-managertorey-lovullo-cryptic-hint-corbin-burnes-guessing-game">Burnes’ meticulously planned spring training schedule to get him ready</a> on short rest for Game 2. As a result, Burnes, a self-proclaimed creature of habit, was bumped to the fifth spot in the rotation and won’t debut until April 1 at Yankee Stadium.</p><p>“That was probably a technical error on my part,” Lovullo admitted. “Corbin is a very routine-oriented player, and I had yet to understand that until recently. He’s got a process, and I respect that and I blame myself for not getting to know him.”</p><h2><b>Will Corbin Burnes and the Diamondbacks be able to stop the dominant Yankee lineup?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Corbin-Burnes_c31d8a.jpg"><figcaption>Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Burnes is known around the league for his intense focus on preparation and structure—a mindset forged after a rocky 2019 season and refined with the help of his mental performance coach, Brian Cain. He credits the routine he’s built over the past five years with the turnaround that followed, including a Cy Young campaign and now a nine-figure contract.</p><p>“The reason why I’m here today and the pitcher I am is because of those routines,” Burnes explained. “And I brought that up [to the Arizona staff]. I said, ‘The reason you guys signed me, the reason you gave me this contract, is because of this process and that routine. Is that something we want to change the first start of my D-backs tenure?’”</p><p>The answer, understandably, was no.</p><p>Burnes will now make his Diamondbacks debut under the bright lights of Yankee Stadium on April 1. Though it’s not the soft landing many envisioned for his first start with Arizona, Burnes has a strong track record there, having allowed just one earned run in 13 career innings in the Bronx.</p><p>The good news for the Diamondbacks is that lessons have already been learned. Burnes and Lovullo have now discussed communication moving forward, with the ace being looped in for all future scheduling talks.</p><p>“Whatever it is, when we kind of map things out… I know kind of weeks in advance what it is,” Burnes said. “So I can kind of fit in my routine.” It was a rocky start to a highly anticipated new chapter, but with the air cleared, the D-backs can now move forward — hopefully with better communication and their ace locked in.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

The major Corbin Burnes mistake Diamondbacks made when setting 2025 starting rotation

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-45-million-contract-brandon-pfaadt');   ga('set', 'title', 'Diamondbacks agree to $45 million contract with key pitcher');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Arizona-agrees-to-45-million-contract-with-key-pitcher.jpg"></figure><h1>Diamondbacks agree to $45 million contract with key pitcher</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-28T16:27:03-07:00">March 28th, 4:27pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-28T16:27:15-07:00">March 28th, 4:27pm</time><address><a>Alex House</a>Alex House is a sports journalist who covers the NFL, NBA, and MLB for ClutchPoints. He grew up in a New York sports-heavy region in Connecticut and earned his journalism degree at the University of Rhode Island. His in-depth knowledge of two of the most passionate and raucous fan bases in the country gives him a truly unique writing voice.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Arizona Diamondbacks just began the 2025 MLB season, but they are already trying to secure a potentially big piece of their future. Right-handed starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt and the organization have agreed to <a href="https://x.com/Dbacks/status/1905740811763167328" rel="noopener">a five-year contract extension</a> worth $45 million, per the D-backs’ official X account.</p><p>Zac Gallen, who scuffled in a 10-6 Opening Day loss to the visiting Chicago Cubs on Thursday, is set to enter free agency at the end of the year. Arizona’s decision to lock up the 26-year-old Pfaadt suggests that it is protecting itself for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/mlb-rumors-diamondbacks-trade-zac-gallen">Gallen’s possible departure</a>.</p><p>Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-corbin-carroll-agree-to-historic-eight-year-111-million-contract-extension">shrewdly extended Corbin Carroll</a> before his 2023 Rookie of the Year campaign and is now hoping to solidify the team’s long-term relationship with another young, promising talent. Although Pfaadt has a 5.06 ERA through 51 career games, he has impressed Arizona’s shot-callers with his composure in big spots and gradual development. The fifth-round draft pick’s new deal includes a <a href="https://x.com/ByRobertMurray/status/1905742008989429798" rel="noopener">$21 million club option</a> in 2031 and a $25 mutual option in 2032, per FanSided’s Robert Murray.</p><h2><b>Diamondbacks have trusted Brandon Pfaadt in crucial moments</b></h2><p>Pfaadt seized a sizable role in the pitching staff in 2023, serving as the No. 3 starter during the Diamondback’s rip-roaring National League pennant run. The rookie was no workhorse, but he allowed manager Torey Lovullo to stretch out his bullpen during a time when his starting rotation was noticeably thin.</p><p>Brandon Pfaadt was especially valuable in the NL Championship Series versus the Philadelphia Phillies, allowing just two runs while striking out 16 batters in 9 2/3 innings of work (across two starts). His four-inning outing in Game 7, which took place in a raucous Citizens Bank Park, was an example of a performance proving far more impactful than the box score indicates. Quite simply, the snakes would not have slithered their way to the World Series without him.</p><p>He was wildly inconsistent in 2024, finishing with a 4.71 ERA in 32 starts. However, Pfaadt did accumulate 185 strikeouts and exhibited solid control, both of which are signs that he could evolve into a steady presence in the rotation.</p><p>That is what the Diamondbacks are banking on, anyway. If the Louisville, Kentucky native can make further strides in his third MLB season, then a starting staff that also boasts Corbin Burnes, Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez could become the most lethal unit in the sport.</p><p>Pfaadt will try to immediately reward Arizona’s faith when he makes his season debut against the Cubs on Saturday night.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Diamondbacks agree to $45 million contract with key pitcher

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-why-corbin-burnes-dodgers-doing-1-exception');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Diamondbacks’ Corbin Burnes loves what Dodgers are doing, with 1 exception');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Diamondbacks-news-Why-Corbin-Burnes-loves-what-Dodgers-are-doing-with-1-exception.jpg"></figure><h1>Why Diamondbacks’ Corbin Burnes loves what Dodgers are doing, with 1 exception</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-27T07:23:08-07:00">March 27th, 7:23am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-27T08:19:44-07:00">March 27th, 8:19am</time><address><a>Christopher Hennessy</a>Christopher Hennessy graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022. He has also worked at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders writer. Chris is originally from Connecticut and is a lifelong New York Yankees, Islanders, and Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Arizona Diamondbacks made one of the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/diamondbacks-news-corbin-burnes-shocking-210-million-contract-arizona">biggest moves of the offseason by signing Corbin Burnes</a>. But they were overshadowed by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who added Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki after winning the World Series. After signing his big contract, Burnes spoke honestly about his division rival. The Diamondbacks ace told Bob Nightengale of USA Today that <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2025/03/27/dodgers-opening-day-world-series/82661764007/" rel="noopener">he likes having</a> the Dodgers in the league but not in the NL West.</p><p>As a player that wants everyone in this game to make as much money as they can, you want teams like that,” Burnes said. “They go out and win. They make money, and then they turn around and they give it to their players. It’s always refreshing to see when you see an ownership group that wants to put the money they’re making back into the team.</p><p>The Diamondbacks ace continues, “The Dodgers obviously have done well the last couple of years and put the money back into the team and got a World Series. So, it’s good to see, I just wish they weren’t in our division.”</p><p>The Dodgers have won the National League West in 11 of the last 12 seasons, making the playoffs every year since 2013. The Diamondbacks will have to defy the odds to take the division from LA.</p><h2><b>The Diamondbacks need a great season from Corbin Burnes</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Corbin-Burnes-with-Diamondbacks.jpg"><figcaption>Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Last year, the Diamondbacks won 89 games and missed the playoffs. They lost tiebreakers to the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves, who both finished with 89 wins as well. Arizona had the best offense in baseball, averaging nearly 5.5 runs per game, but did not have great pitching. With Burnes in Arizona, their biggest need could be solved.</p><p>But there will always be the Dodgers looming over the Diamondbacks as a roadblock to winning the NL West. It is not the killer that having a great division rival used to be on teams because there are three Wild Card spots. The Diamondbacks have as good a chance as any to snag one of those spots in the NL.</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/editorials/mlb-power-rankings-vol-2-opening-day-kinda">Dodgers have already won two games this season</a>, beating the Cubs in both Tokyo Series matchups. Next up for Chicago on the schedule is the Diamondbacks with Corbin Burnes making his first Arizona start. If the Diamondbacks get off to a solid start, maybe they can challenge the Dodgers for the division title.</p><p>Burnes and the Snakes take on the Cubbies at 7:10 p.m. Pacific Time on Opening Day.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Diamondbacks’ Corbin Burnes loves what Dodgers are doing, with 1 exception

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-jordan-montgomery-devastating-tommy-john-surgery-update');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jordan Montgomery dealt devastating Tommy John surgery update');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Jordan-Montgomery-dealt-devastating-Tommy-John-surgery-update.jpg"></figure><h1>Jordan Montgomery dealt devastating Tommy John surgery update</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-25T11:01:27-07:00">March 25th, 11:01am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-25T11:11:54-07:00">March 25th, 11:11am</time><address><a>Russell Steinberg</a>Russell Steinberg covers Major League Baseball and the New York Liberty for ClutchPoints. A baseball and basketball lifer, he has written for Boardroom, SLAM, SB Nation, The Next, and more. He graduated from NYU in 2012 and still returns to serve as PA announcer and occasional broadcaster for the school’s basketball and volleyball teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Arizona <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/mlb-rumors-diamondbacks-jordan-montgomery-trade-interest">Diamondbacks starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery</a> <a href="https://x.com/nickpiecoro/status/1904586738384986539" rel="noopener">will undergo</a> Tommy John surgery next week and miss the 2025 MLB season, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.</p><p>It’s another setback for the 32-year-old Montgomery, who is coming off the worst season of his career. After winning the World Series with the 2023 Texas Rangers, he went unsigned for most of the subsequent offseason. Finally, he signed a one-year deal with an option for 2025 with the Diamondbacks, hoping that he could produce at a high level and earn a bigger deal in 2025.</p><p>He instead posted a 6.23 ERA for Arizona in 2024, losing his spot in the rotation by the end of the year. His strikeout rate plummeted in 2024 to a career-low 15.6% while his walk rate jumped from 4.9% to 8.3%.</p><p>The situation got so bad that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-arizona-owner-destroys-jordan-montgomery-after-missing-playoffs">Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick</a> even publicly criticized himself for the signing.</p><p>“Looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision to have invested that money in a guy that performed as poorly as he did,” he said in an appearance on The Burns and Gambo Show in October. “It was our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint. And I’m the perpetrator of that.”</p><p>Arizona was reportedly <a href="https://x.com/Gambo987/status/1902465845823205829" rel="noopener">shopping him</a> before the injury, even with Opening Day just days away.</p><p>“There has been recent interest from a few teams in trading for Diamondbacks starter Jordan Montgomery,” Arizona radio host John Gambadoro wrote on X. “After a solid 2 2/3 scoreless outing today against Colorado in a spring training start there may be more.”</p><p>Arizona is on the hook for the $22.5 million Montgomery is owed for this season. Now, the southpaw will sit out the final season on his contract and enter free agency next winter with a humongous cloud of uncertainty over him. He will be entering his age 33 season two years removed from his last productive season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jordan Montgomery dealt devastating Tommy John surgery update

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-22-5-million-trade-candidate-starting-spot-rotation');   ga('set', 'title', 'Diamondbacks’ $22.5 million trade candidate loses starting spot in rotation');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Diamondbacks-news-22.jpg"></figure><h1>Diamondbacks’ $22.5 million trade candidate loses starting spot in rotation</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-23T13:20:22-07:00">March 23rd, 1:20pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-23T13:20:22-07:00">March 23rd, 1:20pm</time><address><a>Ryan Bologna</a>Ryan Bologna is an author at ClutchPoints. He studied journalism and communication at UConn.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Arizona Diamondbacks <a href="https://x.com/BNightengale/status/1903886163896914135" rel="noopener">are going with</a> Brandon Pfaadt as the No. 5 starter, meaning that Jordan Montgomery is going to the bullpen, along with Ryne Nelson, according to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY.</p><p>This is notable due to Montgomery accounting for $22.5 million on the payroll this season. The Diamondbacks have been <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/mlb-rumors-diamondbacks-jordan-montgomery-trade-interest">trying to find a trade partner to offload Montgomery</a> and his salary since the offseason, but have been unable to find a deal.</p><p>The Diamondbacks signed Montgomery to a one-year, $25 million contract with a $22.5 million option for 2025 last offseason, and it has not worked. It went so badly last season that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-arizona-owner-destroys-jordan-montgomery-after-missing-playoffs">Diamondbacks ownership owned up</a> to their part in the deal.</p><p>Montgomery pitched in 25 games last season, posting a 6.23 ERA in what was by far the worst season of his career. He was hoping to regain form and earn a spot in the rotation for 2025 before hitting free agency again next offseason. Now, he will be in the bullpen, barring a late trade to another team ahead of Opening Day this week.</p><p>Despite the signing of Montgomery not working out, the Diamondbacks are in great shape from a starting pitching standpoint, with Zac Gallen, Corbin Burnes, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez and Pfaadt forming the rotation. The Diamondbacks were a dangerous offense last offseason, so they are trying to pair that production with what could be an elite rotation.</p><p>Montgomery has been a solid starting pitcher in MLB before. He came up with the New York Yankees and was a solid arm for them in some seasons, before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals during the 2022 season. Montgomery was then traded again in 2023 to the Texas Rangers, where he played a vital role in the World Series title in 2023. It has not been good since then, and Montgomery hopes for better in 2025 in some form.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Diamondbacks’ $22.5 million trade candidate loses starting spot in rotation

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-justin-martinez-5-year-contract-competes-closer-role');   ga('set', 'title', '23-year-old star gets 5-year contract as he competes for Diamondbacks closer role');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Diamondbacks-news-23-year-old-star-gets-5-year-contract-as-he-competes-for-closer-role.jpg"></figure><h1>23-year-old star gets 5-year contract as he competes for Diamondbacks closer role</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-23T07:58:44-07:00">March 23rd, 7:58am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-23T07:58:44-07:00">March 23rd, 7:58am</time><address><a>Owen Crisafulli</a>Owen Crisafulli is a Senior Editor and NFL Lead at ClutchPoints. He recently received his Masters in Business Administration from Nichols College. Previously, he obtained his Bachelor's degree in Sport Management and for a while ran his own sports website. Sports are his passion, and he thoroughly enjoys writing about thoughts and opinions that are related to the game. He has been a lifelong fan of the major professional teams in Boston and loves discussing all topics surrounding those teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/mlb-rumors-diamondbacks-jordan-montgomery-trade-interest">Arizona Diamondbacks are making their final preparations for the 2025 campaign</a>, where they will be hoping to emerge as a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/diamondbacks-news-corbin-burnes-decision-diamondbacks-free-agency">sneaky playoff contender</a> in the loaded National League West. Ahead of Opening Day, the front office decided to take care of a bit of contract business, as they handed Justin Martinez, a promising young reliever, a nice contract extension on Saturday night.</p><p>Martinez briefly broke into the majors in 2023, but he struggled, posting an ugly 12.60 earned run average over 10 innings of work. In his first full season of work in 2024, though, Martinez was one of Arizona’s top options out of the bullpen, as he saw his ERA drop over 10 runs to 2.48. He also racked up 91 strikeouts and eight saves over 72.2 innings of work. The future is bright for Martinez, and the Diamondbacks opted to secure his future by handing him a <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/44362614/arizona-diamondbacks-give-justin-martinez-five-year-contract" rel="noopener">five-year, $18 million contract extension</a>.</p><p>“Arizona hard-throwing right-hander Justin Martinez has agreed to an $18 million, five-year contract even as he continues to compete for the role of Diamondbacks closer,” ESPN reported.</p><h2><b>Diamondbacks lock up promising young pitcher in Justin Martinez</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Diamondbacks-pitcher-Justin-Martinez.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>With Paul Sewald bolting for the Cleveland Guardians in free agency, Arizona needs a new closer this season, and Martinez finished second on the squad in saves last season. Veteran relievers A.J. Puk and Kevin Ginkel are the other candidates to close out games to start the season at least, but neither of them have much experience in the ninth inning either.</p><p>There is a bit of risk when it comes to making Martinez the closer since he’s only 23 years old and has just one strong season of work under his belt, but he may just be the best option of the bunch right now. Regardless of whether he earns the gig out of the gate, he figures to be a key piece of the Diamondbacks bullpen for the next few seasons now that he’s received a nice pay raise ahead of the 2025 campaign.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

23-year-old star gets 5-year contract as he competes for Diamondbacks closer role

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-d-backs-managertorey-lovullo-cryptic-hint-corbin-burnes-guessing-game');   ga('set', 'title', 'D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo gives cryptic hint amid Corbin Burnes guessing game');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Diamondbacks-news-Torey-Lovullos-cryptic-hint-amid-Corbin-Burnes-guessing-game.jpg"></figure><h1>D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo gives cryptic hint amid Corbin Burnes guessing game</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-22T20:00:14-07:00">March 22nd, 8:00pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-22T20:00:14-07:00">March 22nd, 8:00pm</time><address><a>Brayden Haena</a>Brayden Haena is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He's a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan and a football fanatic. In addition to sports writing, he works for Arizona Football in the Player Personnel and Recruiting department and formerly served as the Defensive Coordinator for Heritage High School.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/diamondbacks-news-jordan-montgomery-corbin-carroll-injury-updates">Arizona Diamondbacks near the conclusion of spring training,</a> the biggest question hanging over the team isn’t about final roster cuts or bullpen depth — it’s about <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/diamondbacks-news-corbin-burnes-decision-diamondbacks-free-agency">Corbin Burnes, and when exactly the club’s $210 million ace will make his debut.</a> What seemed like a straightforward plan — Burnes pitching the second game of the season against the Cubs — has <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/mlb/diamondbacks/2025/03/22/dbacks-corbin-burnes-might-not-debut-during-season-opening-homestand/82617361007/" rel="noopener">quickly turned into a mystery.</a></p><p>Following his start on Friday night, Burnes told reporters that he plans to pitch once more before the regular season begins. That comment sparked confusion, as there are no more Grapefruit League or exhibition games that align with his throwing schedule. If Burnes throws another tune-up on March 26, he would effectively be pushed out of the opening series entirely and likely make his season debut April 1 in the Bronx against the New York Yankees. That scenario appears increasingly possible.</p><p>Manager Torey Lovullo didn’t clarify much when asked about the situation on Saturday.</p><p>“Hang with me for another 24 hours and I’ll let you know the reasons why,” Lovullo told reporters when pressed about Burnes’ schedule. “It could potentially [mean another spring outing]. We haven’t had a chance to talk to everybody about where they’re slotting and what’s going on. So, I don’t want to go any further than that.”</p><h2><b>Will Corbin Burnes make one final Spring Training start for the D-Backs?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Corbin-Burnes.jpg"><figcaption>Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>When asked directly if Burnes would pitch against the Cubs at all, Lovullo admitted, “I can’t answer that for you right now.” While the ambiguity might frustrate fans, there may be a strategic explanation. Burnes is notoriously particular about his routines. Starting on six days’ rest — as he would if he pitched March 29, the second game of the season — may not align with his preferences. Another spring outing could allow him to line up for April 1 on a more normal schedule.</p><p>In a further clue to the rotation shuffle, Merrill Kelly was bumped up to start the D-Backs Saturday game against the Giants, likely positioning him to take the ball for the second game of the regular season. That would put the rotation as Zac Gallen, Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt, and Eduardo Rodriguez for the Cubs series — with Burnes slotting in after the off day on March 31. Lovullo and GM Mike Hazen are expected to finalize the roster and rotation decisions Saturday evening, with an announcement to follow by Sunday afternoon.</p><p>“What Mike likes to do is, once we leave Salt River and head to Chase [Field], he likes to have the team really dialed in,” Lovullo said. “Maybe one, max two conversations that need to be had over at Chase.” Until then, Burnes’ debut remains a guessing game. But if the clues hold up, fans might be seeing the star right-hander take the mound not at Chase Field, but under the lights at Yankee Stadium.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo gives cryptic hint amid Corbin Burnes guessing game

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-zac-gallen-over-corbin-burnes-opening-day');   ga('set', 'title', 'Zac Gallen gets nod over Corbin Burnes for Opening Day');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Zac-Gallen-gets-nod-over-Corbin-Burnes-for-Opening-Day.jpg"></figure><h1>Zac Gallen gets nod over Corbin Burnes for Opening Day</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-20T14:12:26-07:00">March 20th, 2:12pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-20T14:32:08-07:00">March 20th, 2:32pm</time><address><a>Mike Gianakos</a>Mike Gianakos is the former editor-in-chief of High Times magazine, where he also spearheaded the video department and event production. He is a longtime podcaster and even longer suffering NY Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Arizona Diamondback made a surprise run to the World Series in 2023, ultimately losing to the Texas Rangers 4-1. After missing out on the playoffs last season, the Diamondbacks bolstered their starting rotation, landing prized free agent Corbin Burns on a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-corbin-burnes-shocking-210-million-contract-arizona">six-year, $210 million contract</a>.</p><p>But despite adding one of baseball’s best pitchers this offseason, Arizona is going in a <a href="https://x.com/BNightengale/status/1902804628825313673" rel="noopener">different direction</a> for the season opener. The team named Zac Gallen as the Opening Day starter when the Diamondbacks take on the Chicago Cubs March 27, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale on X.</p><p>Gallen will make his third straight Opening Day start for Arizona. However, the decision <a href="https://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/zac-gallen-opening-day/3577535/" rel="noopener">wasn’t easy</a>. Manager Torey Lovullo struggled with the choice and even asked staffers for their opinions, which were split evenly between Gallen and Burnes, according to Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports.</p><h2><b>The Diamondbacks look to get back to the postseason in 2025</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Zac-Gallen.jpg"><figcaption>Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>“They’re both elite pitchers… At the end of the day, Zac’s been here for a long time. I have a very strong bond with Zac. He’s seen some darkness here. He’s come out the other end. And I’ve relied on him in a different way that I will eventually rely on Corbin. I just haven’t gotten there yet,” Lovullo said, per Arizona Sports.</p><p>Burnes joined the Diamondbacks after a one-year stint with the Baltimore Orioles. He had yet another strong season in Baltimore, going 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA, 1.096 WHIP and 128 ERA+, leading to his fourth straight All-Star Game nod.</p><p>The eighth-year veteran won the Cy Young as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2021, edging out Zack Wheeler for the award with an excellent season. Burnes started on Opening Day in each of the last three seasons.</p><p>Gallen has been with the Diamondbacks since being traded by the Miami Marlins at the deadline in 2019. He had a strong performance for the team in 2023, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-zac-gallen-game-1-world-series-rangers">starting Game 1 of the World Series</a>, earning his first All-Star Game appearance and finishing third in Cy Young voting.</p><p>There were rumors that the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/mlb-rumors-diamondbacks-trade-zac-gallen">Diamondbacks could trade Gallen</a> following the 2024 season but the team signed him to a one-year, $13.5 million contract in January, avoiding arbitration. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent following the 2025 season.</p><p>This spring, Burnes has been the sharper of the two on the mound. He has a 1.35 ERA, 0.975 WHIP and 17 strikeouts in 13.1 innings over five Cactus League starts. Gallen meanwhile has pitched just five innings in spring training, allowing two runs on three hits with three walks and eight strikeouts.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Zac Gallen gets nod over Corbin Burnes for Opening Day

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/mlb-rumors-diamondbacks-jordan-montgomery-trade-interest');   ga('set', 'title', 'MLB rumors: Diamondbacks receiving Jordan Montgomery trade interest after solid spring showing');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/MLB-rumors-Diamondbacks-receiving-Jordan-Montgomery-trade-interest-after-solid-spring-showing.jpg"></figure><h1>MLB rumors: Diamondbacks receiving Jordan Montgomery trade interest after solid spring showing</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-19T15:19:00-07:00">March 19th, 3:19pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-19T15:19:00-07:00">March 19th, 3:19pm</time><address><a>Quinn Allen</a>Quinn Allen is a Senior Associate Editor with ClutchPoints. He specializes mainly in soccer, basketball, and baseball. When Quinn isn't producing content for CP,  he's writing sports betting predictions for numerous sites across North America.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Arizona Diamondbacks made the decision to sign Jordan Montgomery last offseason after he helped the Texas Rangers win the World Series. It was seen as a great move, but the lefty struggled immensely in 2024 with the team, sparking trade rumors.</p><p>Well, he remains with the Diamondbacks and continues to fight for the final spot in their rotation. Wednesday’s spring training outing certainly helped his case, tossing 2.2 scoreless frames against the Colorado Rockies. Montgomery does appear to be <a href="https://x.com/Gambo987/status/1902465845823205829" rel="noopener">generating trade interest</a> from a “few teams” and that could grow after his impressive showing.</p><p>Via John Gambadoro:</p><p>“There has been recent interest from a few teams in trading for Diamondbacks starter Jordan Montgomery. After a solid 2 2/3 scoreless outing today against Colorado in a spring training start there may be more.”</p><p>’24 couldn’t have gone worse for the southpaw. He didn’t pitch at all in spring training because he signed once the regular season began and those lack of reps affected Montgomery, going 8-7 with a 6.23 ERA. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/diamondbacks-news-arizona-set-make-jordan-montgomery-bullpen-move-playoff-push">The Diamondbacks eventually axed him from the rotation</a> and back in October, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/diamondbacks-news-arizona-owner-destroys-jordan-montgomery-after-missing-playoffs">owner Ken Kendrick publicly blasted himself for making the decision to bring in Montgomery</a>:</p><p>“If anyone wants to blame anyone for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, you’re talking to the guy that should be blamed,” Kendrick told Arizona Sports. “Because I brought it to [the front office’s] attention. I pushed for it. They agreed to it — it wasn’t in our game plan. You know when he was signed — right at the end of spring training. And looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision to invest that money in a guy who performed as poorly as he did. It’s our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint. And I’m the perpetrator of that.”</p><p>Yikes. It’s hard to imagine Montgomery and the Diamondbacks are on good terms after such remarks. Also, Brandon Pfaadt, who is competing with Montgomery for a rotation spot, just had a stellar outing against the San Diego Padres.</p><p>Perhaps a trade is best for both parties, but we’ll have to see what happens. A change of scenery may be what Montgomery needs.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

MLB rumors: Diamondbacks receiving Jordan Montgomery trade interest after solid spring showing

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-corbin-burnes-decision-diamondbacks-free-agency');   ga('set', 'title', 'Corbin Burnes breaks down decision to choose Diamondbacks in free agency');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Corbin-Burnes-breaks-down-decision-to-choose-Arizona-in-free-agency.jpg"></figure><h1>Corbin Burnes breaks down decision to choose Diamondbacks in free agency</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-11T12:54:18-07:00">March 11th, 12:54pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-11T12:54:18-07:00">March 11th, 12:54pm</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-corbin-burnes-shocking-210-million-contract-arizona">Corbin Burnes signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks in free agency</a>, it caught many by surprise. While teams like the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays were interested, he ended up going to the desert.</p><p>While many were surprised by the decision, Burnes was equally as surprised. He detailed on Foul Territory TV the <a href="https://x.com/FoulTerritoryTV/status/1899525118965198890" rel="noopener">entire process</a> of putting the ink to the paper.</p><p>“There was some interest early on in December they called and said, hey, we’d love to have you,” Burnes said. “We don’t know if the financials are going to work out, So, for me and my wife, that’s always in the back of our head.</p><p>“Just so happened that the GM and the assistant GM were gone, so Scott was dealing directly with Ken (Kendrick) and from talking to Ken now and talking to other guys around the organization, when Ken gets involved, he’s pretty serious.</p><p>When that happened, in 48 hours, it was done. He got serious, he got excited and we managed to get it done, and I think this is the perfect scenario.”</p><p>In 48 hours, there was a done deal. Burnes’s agent speaking directly to Kendrick is a major advantage. Plus, the Diamondbacks owner was all-in on signing Jordan Montgomery last season.</p><p>As Burnes mentioned, when Kendrick is serious about something, he is serious.</p><h2><b>The Diamondbacks free agency splash was Corbin Burnes</b></h2><p>Even though the Diamondbacks have Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, they found themselves a legitimate No. 1 option. After all, Burnes won the 2022 National League CY Young award.</p><p>Also, he’s been to four consecutive all-star games. While Gallen is solidifying himself as a No. 1 option, more help never hurts. Despite Burnes being traded to the Baltimore Orioles last season, he still had an impressive season.</p><p>He had a 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA, his lowest since that CY Young-winning season. Since joining the team, he’s already made a lasting impression.</p><p>For example, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-corbin-burnes-nsfw-message-to-torey-lovullo-will-have-fans-hyped">Burnes gave Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo an NSFW message</a> that will leave fans hyped. As Spring Training is rolling around, the newest ace has been dominant.</p><p>He is 3-0 with a 0.96 ERA. It is Spring Training, so taking this with a grain of salt is a must. However, he seems to be fitting in with his team, rather seamlessly.</p><p>As March will conclude and the regular season will begin, it’s important to note how well Burnes will perform. With Chase Field being <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/2024/11/13/24296030/is-chase-field-a-hitters-park-again#:~:text=There%20are%20a%20couple%20of,Field%20was%20slightly%20pitcher%2Dfriendly." rel="noopener">one of the most hitter-friendly ball parks</a>, that doesn’t make his life easier.</p><p>Still, being a part of a team that made the World Series two seasons ago is certainly promising.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Corbin Burnes breaks down decision to choose Diamondbacks in free agency

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-jordan-montgomery-corbin-carroll-injury-updates');   ga('set', 'title', 'Diamondbacks’ Jordan Montgomery, Corbin Carroll get important injury updates');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Jordan-Montgomery-Corbin-Carroll-get-important-injury-updates.jpg"></figure><h1>Diamondbacks’ Jordan Montgomery, Corbin Carroll get important injury updates</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-05T14:34:52-08:00">March 5th, 2:34pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-05T14:34:52-08:00">March 5th, 2:34pm</time><address><a>Christopher Hennessy</a>Christopher Hennessy graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022. He has also worked at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders writer. Chris is originally from Connecticut and is a lifelong New York Yankees, Islanders, and Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Arizona Diamondbacks have a lot to prove in the 2025 MLB season. After winning the National League pennant in 2023, they missed the playoffs despite having a league-best offense. So they went out and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/diamondbacks-news-corbin-burnes-shocking-210-million-contract-arizona">improved their pitching this offseason with Corbin Burnes</a>. But the Diamondbacks have dealt with spring training injuries to Jordan Montgomery, Corbin Carroll, and Kendall Graveman. Manager Torey Lovullo has the <a href="https://x.com/RomeroJoseM/status/1897363602702831773" rel="noopener">latest on those injuries</a>.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo with health updates on Jordan Montgomery, Kendall Graveman and Corbin Carroll. <a href="https://t.co/u0YjNn200n">pic.twitter.com/u0YjNn200n</a></p><p>— José M. Romero (@RomeroJoseM) <a href="https://twitter.com/RomeroJoseM/status/1897363602702831773?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“We’ll continue to monitor him, see how he feels. Hopefully, we’ll get him through a bullpen this weekend,” Lovullo said of Graveman. “Monty will pitch in a game on the 7th. And Corbin Carroll continues to be in the training room, feeling much better…I’ll be honest, [Wednesday] was a target for him to play but we combined it with a bunch of other days to knock this totally out and we’re very close to that.”</p><p>Montgomery had the worst season of his career in 2024, posting a 6.23 ERA and getting kicked back to the bullpen. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/diamondbacks-news-arizona-owner-destroys-jordan-montgomery-after-missing-playoffs">Despite trade rumors and disparaging comments from the owner, he is back in Arizona</a>. Lovullo expects to see him back on the hill Friday against the Angels.</p><p>Carroll was a rookie superstar for the pennant-winning Diamondbacks and is important to their offense moving forward. Even after a significant sophomore slump, highlighted by a 26-point OPS+ drop, he is the star in this lineup. Giving him time off in March hoping he gets off to a better start in 2025 is the right move.</p><p>Graveman is a relief pitcher who joined the Diamondbacks this offseason. Their bullpen was part of the issue last year and they lost Paul Sewald this winter. Bringing in Graveman, who was hurt all of last year, was a low-risk, high-reward move. But they must make sure he is healthy throughout the season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Diamondbacks’ Jordan Montgomery, Corbin Carroll get important injury updates

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-torey-lovullo-drops-hilarious-tony-la-russa-quip-after-kevin-costner-meeting');   ga('set', 'title', 'Torey Lovullo drops hilarious Tony La Russa quip after Kevin Costner meeting');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Torey-Lovullo-drops-hilarious-Tony-La-Russa-quip-after-Kevin-Costner-meeting.jpg"></figure><h1>Torey Lovullo drops hilarious Tony La Russa quip after Kevin Costner meeting</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-04T10:51:08-08:00">March 4th, 10:51am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-04T11:03:16-08:00">March 4th, 11:03am</time><address><a href="http://designsux.com">Burtland Dixon</a>As an avid enthusiast of entertainment, Burtland Dixon is a passionate individual who revels in the magic of movies, sports, music, and pop culture. Whether it's catching the latest blockbuster, watching the marquee matchup of the week, attending live concerts, or getting immersed in the world of gaming, Burtland finds joy in all forms of entertainment.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/kevin-costner-diamondbacks-spring-training-visit" rel="noopener">couldn’t help but crack a joke</a> when he learned that legendary actor <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/entertainment/yellowstone-season-5-shocking-kevin-costner-update">Kevin Costner</a> wanted to meet him at Salt River Fields, per MLB. His first thought? There must have been some confusion.</p><p>“I’m like, ‘Does he know that I’m Torey Lovullo and not Tony La Russa?’” Lovullo joked. “You know, that other Italian guy.”</p><p>Lovullo was one of a few members of the Diamondbacks organization who got the chance to meet Costner, who was at the team’s spring training complex for a commercial photo shoot. Meeting an actor with such a deep connection to baseball films made the experience even more surreal.</p><p>“He’s ‘The Voice,’ and then he’s right there in front of you talking to you,” Lovullo said. “I was basically watching guys hitting and shagging on Field 2, and five minutes later, I’m hanging with Kevin Costner. You can’t make it up. I’ve got one of the coolest jobs in baseball.”</p><p>Lovullo made sure to express his gratitude, particularly for Costner’s dedication to portraying baseball authentically on screen.</p><p>“I spent some good time with him, and really what I did was I thanked him for all the films and the great acting that he’s done, in particular the baseball movies,” Lovullo said. “And that [when I watch him], I feel like I’m watching a baseball player. I’m not watching an actor trying to play baseball. And I thanked him for that effort, for taking it seriously, because it means a lot to us inside of this industry. And he thanked me for that. It was very genuine.”</p><h2>Lineup Changes and a ‘Bull Durham’ Moment</h2><p>While Lovullo enjoyed his brush with Hollywood, he also has a lot on his plate when it comes to setting up his batting order for the upcoming season. With Christian Walker now in Houston, Lovullo acknowledged he may take a more flexible approach to lineup construction.</p><p>“I might be a little more fluid with matching up,” Lovullo said. “There were times I was reluctant when Christian got into a little bit of a funk—I was reluctant to move him out of the four hole. I might be a little more fluid and make some more lineup adjustments in that space with that mindset. I don’t know yet. It’s a good question.”</p><p>While Lovullo figured out his roster, right-hander Zac Gallen was busy having his own unforgettable moment with Costner. As a die-hard fan of Bull Durham, Gallen took full advantage of the opportunity to ask the actor about filming the iconic baseball movie.</p><p>“I got to spend about 10-15 minutes with him, which was a lot of fun,” Gallen said. “I asked him a bunch of questions about Bull Durham, and he told some stories of playing at the old Bull Durham Stadium.”</p><p>The highlight of their conversation came when Kevin Costner playfully challenged himself to hit a ball over the fence.</p><p>“We were standing in center field, so he’s like, ‘Throw me that ball,’” Gallen recalled. “I’m not sure if he knew it was the ball he had signed or if he thought it was another one. So I threw it to him, and he hit it, and now there’s a grass stain on the ball. So, I think the story is even cooler than just having a fresh, white baseball with a signature. I’ve got a story to tell about it.”</p><p>For Lovullo, Gallen, and the rest of the Diamondbacks, it was an unexpected but unforgettable moment—one where baseball and Hollywood collided in the best way possible.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Torey Lovullo drops hilarious Tony La Russa quip after Kevin Costner meeting

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-josh-naylor-thing-does-everytime-sees-terry-francona');   ga('set', 'title', 'Josh Naylor hilariously reveals one thing he still does every time he sees Terry Francona');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Josh-Naylor-hilariously-reveals-one-thing-he-still-does-everytime-he-sees-Terry-Francona.jpg"></figure><h1>Josh Naylor hilariously reveals one thing he still does every time he sees Terry Francona</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-03T20:36:24-08:00">March 3rd, 8:36pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-03T20:43:09-08:00">March 3rd, 8:43pm</time><address><a>Mike Gianakos</a>Mike Gianakos is the former editor-in-chief of High Times magazine, where he also spearheaded the video department and event production. He is a longtime podcaster and even longer suffering NY Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Cleveland Guardians found some success of late, reaching the playoffs in two of the last three seasons. However, the team hasn’t advanced beyond the division round since 2016 and so Cleveland felt it was time for a change. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-acquires-josh-naylor-trade-guardians">Guardians traded Josh Naylor</a> to the Arizona Diamondbacks this offseason, moving on from a fun and productive player.</p><p>Naylor, however, can get a little over excited at times. Former Guardians manager Terry Francona found this out the hard way, suffering a headbutt from Naylor after a walk-off, two-run bomb that beat the Minnesota Twins in the 10th inning back in 2022. And Francona was even wearing a batting helmet at the time. But the gear failed to adequately protect the veteran skipper.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DGwom-nCHxn/?e=9ca32c0b-b022-413d-8c9b-482124d4cc44&amp;g=5&amp;img_index=1" rel="noopener">iconic celebration</a> was brought up recently in a sit down with Naylor. “I apologize to this day every time I see him,” Naylor said of his former manager, per MLB Network on Instagram.</p><p>“I do still feel bad to this day. I know he had neck pain for the next five days after that, so it’s kinda sad,” the Diamondbacks’ new first baseman acknowledged. “He’s awesome. I love Terry,” Naylor added.</p><h2><b>New Diamondbacks slugger Josh Naylor celebrates hard</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Josh-Naylor.jpg"><figcaption>David Richard-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Naylor’s a big guy, tipping the scales at 250 pounds. So the Diamondbacks better be prepared for some contact when he gets a game-winner. The dramatic bomb he crushed in Cleveland was part of a solid 2022 season for the Guardians, who went 92-70 en route to winning the AL Central. And Francona was named Manager of the Year that season.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-terry-francona-truth-bomb-cleveland-departure">Francona stepped down</a> from his role as manager of the Guardians after the 2023 campaign and now the team has traded Naylor. In his last season in Cleveland, he hit 31 home runs with 108 RBI and 84 runs scored, finishing with an OPS+ of 118 and 1.5 WAR.</p><p>The Diamondbacks were in the market for a new first baseman after losing Christian Walker in free agency. The veteran Gold Glover spent eight seasons with the Diamondbacks before signing a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/houston-astros/astros-news-houston-christian-walker-nolan-arenado-trade-fiasco">three-year, $60 million deal</a> with the Astros this offseason.</p><p>Despite making the playoffs for just the second time in the last 12 years in 2023, the Diamondbacks reached the World Series, losing 4-1 to the Texas Rangers. Last season, Arizona was unable to overcome a competitive division and missed the playoffs altogether.</p><p>Perhaps Naylor will bring a new spark to the club. Just steer clear of the 27-year-old All-Star during post-game celebrations.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Josh Naylor hilariously reveals one thing he still does every time he sees Terry Francona

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-arizona-lose-pair-relief-pitchers-tommy-john-surgery');   ga('set', 'title', 'Diamondbacks lose pair of relief pitchers to Tommy John surgery');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Diamondbacks-lose-pair-of-relief-pitchers-to-Tommy-John-surgery.jpg"></figure><h1>Diamondbacks lose pair of relief pitchers to Tommy John surgery</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-02-27T14:03:09-08:00">February 27th, 2:03pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-02-27T14:03:09-08:00">February 27th, 2:03pm</time><address><a>Quinn Allen</a>Quinn Allen is a Senior Associate Editor with ClutchPoints. He specializes mainly in soccer, basketball, and baseball. When Quinn isn't producing content for CP,  he's writing sports betting predictions for numerous sites across North America.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Arizona Diamondbacks <a href="https://x.com/Feinsand/status/1895192789295734884" rel="noopener">have lost two relievers</a> to Tommy John before the 2025 campaign has even begun.</p><p>Torey Lovullo announced on Thursday that Thyago Vieira and Josh Winder will have surgery on their pitching elbows, as reported by Mark Feinsand. Neither guy was expected to be a huge piece of their bullpen this season, but it’s still far from ideal.</p><p>Vieira has bounced around quite a bit. The righty initially made his MLB debut in 2017 with the Seattle Mariners before a stint with the Chicago White Sox. He then went to Japan and pitched there from 2020-2022 before returning to the big leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, and the Diamondbacks last season.</p><p>With Arizona, he made just 11 appearances, compiling a 2.87 ERA in 15.2 innings of work. He received an invite to big league camp this spring and definitely had a chance to potentially win a spot in the bullpen, but now, the Brazil native will be on the shelf until 2026. Very unfortunate and a long road to recovery.</p><p>As for Winder, he’s thrown 110.2 innings at the MLB level with the Minnesota Twins between ’22-’24, compiling a 4.39 ERA overall. He’s struck out 85 hitters and walked 33. The right-hander was once a top prospect in the Twins system but he dealt with a plethora of different injuries that hampered his production and journey to the show.</p><p>Winder didn’t pitch much in the big leagues last year and spent most of his time in Triple-A. Instead of staying in Minny, he chose to elect free agency and the Diamondbacks offered him a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.</p><p>Thankfully, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-arizona-agree-one-year-deal-former-astros-white-sox-reliever">the Diamondbacks have a solid bullpen heading into this season</a>. Regardless, it’s still brutal for both Vieira and Winder, who were hoping to make an impact for the NL West ball club. Their time will have to wait as the recovery process begins after undergoing surgery.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Diamondbacks lose pair of relief pitchers to Tommy John surgery

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-corbin-burnes-100-real-first-spring-training-start');   ga('set', 'title', 'Corbin Burnes gets 100% real on first Diamondbacks spring training start');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Diamondbacks-news-Corbin-Burnes-gets-100-real-on-first-Arizona-start-in-spring-training.jpg"></figure><h1>Corbin Burnes gets 100% real on first Diamondbacks spring training start</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-02-21T16:03:46-08:00">February 21st, 4:03pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-02-21T16:04:11-08:00">February 21st, 4:04pm</time><address><a>Alex House</a>Alex House is a sports journalist who covers the NFL, NBA, and MLB for ClutchPoints. He grew up in a New York sports-heavy region in Connecticut and earned his journalism degree at the University of Rhode Island. His in-depth knowledge of two of the most passionate and raucous fan bases in the country gives him a truly unique writing voice.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Arizona Diamondbacks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Many MLB managers like to ease their veteran star players into spring training and limit the amount of game time they see. Warming up athletes while simultaneously mitigating their risk of injury is a hard balancing act to perfect. Corbin Burnes is making life easy for Arizona Diamondbacks skipper Torey Lovullo, however. He wanted the ball immediately.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-corbin-burnes-nsfw-message-to-torey-lovullo-will-have-fans-hyped">The huge offseason acquisition</a> made a dazzling first impression on Snakes fans in his Cactus League debut with the team. He struck out the side in his only inning of work against the Colorado Rockies on Friday afternoon, benefiting from two successful challenges with MLB’s experimental <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/san-diego-padres/padres-news-padres-ace-yu-darvish-not-fan-abs-challenge-system">Automated-Ball-Strike system</a>. Burnes <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/arizona-diamondbacks-news/corbin-burnes-gabriel-moreno-first-start-together-diamondbacks" rel="noopener">explained how important it was</a> for him to experience in-game action right away.</p><p>“I can’t remember which camp it was, maybe 2021 or 2022,” the 30-year-old starting pitcher said, per Jack Sommers of Arizona Diamondbacks on SI, after the ballclub’s 12-8 loss.</p><p>“I was limited to four, I think. Just kind of slow working in. Just didn’t quite feel ready going into opening day that year. And took a couple to kind of feel like my legs are underneath me and kind of spinning things well. So for me, I’d rather err on the side of getting the games a little bit too early.”</p><p>Burnes mixed in all his pitches and found particular success with his sinker. He also displayed strong rapport with his new catcher, 2023 Gold Glover Gabriel Moreno. D-backs fans know better than to overreact to a minuscule sample size, but it is hard to not get excited about their new ace.</p><h2>Corbin Burnes can be a calming presence for Diamondbacks</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Corbin-Burnes-makes-first-Cactus-League-start-for-D-backs.jpg"><figcaption>Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Arizona relied heavily on their top-notch lineup in the 2024 season but fell brutally short of a National League Wild Card slot. Although they still have a plethora of young, productive bats on the roster, their identity is expected to tie into their stout starting pitching rotation. There are questions throughout the staff, but the team is trusting Burnes to keep it stable at the top.</p><p>The veteran righty has exemplified amazing consistency over the last few seasons, boasting one of the best floors of any starter in baseball. His ceiling is not so bad, either, as he won Cy Young in 2021 with the Milwaukee Brewers and finished fifth in voting while playing for the Baltimore Orioles in 2024 (15-9 with a 2.92 ERA and 181 strikeouts).</p><p>The Diamondbacks firmly believe Burnes is the ace they need in order to return to the playoffs and possibly <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-corbin-burnes-unworried-facing-off-dodgers-nl-west">challenge the Los Angeles Dodgers</a> in the NL West, hence why they signed him to a six-year, $210 million contract. Arizona was below .500 for most of the first half of last season, which ultimately proved to be its undoing. If Burnes can feel good going into Opening Day, then maybe he can be a critical tone-setter for the club.</p><p>By the looks of it, diving right into Cactus League play was a sound idea. He will try to build even more momentum in his next spring training outing.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Arizona
Diamondbacks NEWS

ARIZONA

DIAMONDBACKS

ArizonaDiamondbacks NEWS

ARIZONA

DIAMONDBACKS

Arizona
Diamondbacks NEWS