LOS ANGELES, CA–With opening day happening tomorrow, it’s time to take a look at our first opposing lineup of the season, the Arizona Diamondbacks. This offensive lineup ranked 8th in OPS last season, and with the recent additions of Nolan Arenado, they are looking to deal some serious damage throughout the National League.
Arizona Diamondbacks’ Offensive Outlook for 2026
While some are quick to write off the Diamondbacks due to where they were last season, this team is still only three seasons removed from making the World Series. Expect some serious firepower from a deep lineup.
If we look at data from last season and Spring Training, we should expect the Diamondbacks to be very aggressive hitters. Last season, the Diamondbacks had a batting average of .421 on 0-0 count. This is an absurd batting average for 0-0 counts. For perspective, the Dodgers’ offense, widely seen as the best lineup, hit only .321 on 0-0 counts.
While that’s still impressive, hitting .421 highlights the aggressiveness that the D-Backs play with, hunting the first-pitch fastball. All hitters are taught from a young age to be hunting fastball on an 0-0 count, as it’s usually the first pitch you can expect. The D-Backs continue with this mentality.
While some will say this approach is excellent for an MLB team, Dave Roberts and the pitching staff have numerous ways to handle this aggressive lineup. One of the most consistent and effective ways to combat an aggressive lineup is to tell pitchers to pitch backwards.
Pitching backwards is exactly what it sounds like. Say on a 0-0 count, a hitter is expecting a fastball, but instead, you tell the pitcher to throw a curveball. This is an example of pitching backwards, keeping the hitter on his toes by sending an unpredictable pitch, and it is precisely a strategy that will allow the Dodgers to silence this aggressive lineup.
During Spring Training and last season, right-handed D-Backs hitters struggled to hit pitches low and away. These hitters bat .171 on pitches that barely clipped the outside part of the zone, and hit a measly .096 when the pitches were outside the zone.
This highlights the approach that these hitters aren’t taking. Rather than looking down and away, the D-Backs will look up in the zone, hunting a fastball or a hanging off-speed pitch.
As long as pitchers can keep the ball on the bottom of the zone, the Dodgers pitchers will have great success against this D-Backs lineup.
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