The 2025 season was anything but predictable for the Arizona Diamondbacks, especially with regard to the army of pitchers needed to survive the massive number of injuries and underperforming players.
As Arizona Diamondbacks On SI continues its climb through the individual seasons put forward by every member of the 2025 D-backs, we come to one that was expected to carry a significant bullpen load — veteran righty Kendall Graveman.
Graveman’s season did not go according to plan, and now stands out as a warning to GM Mike Hazen and co. with regard to the 2026 offseason.
The following link will be updated live as each individual player’s season review comes out, check out the below article for all current player reviews:
Read more: Breaking Down Every Diamondbacks Player’s 2025 SeasonArizona Diamondbacks 2025 Player Review: Kendall Graveman
Kendall Graveman 2025 / career stats | Alex D’Agostino.
Graveman was added prior to the 2025 season on a one-year, $1.35 million deal. GM Mike Hazen had expressed his desire to add a veteran arm with leverage experience, and Graveman appeared to be just that.
He’d enjoyed three straight excellent seasons from 2021-2023 in a leverage role, but missed all of 2024 with shoulder surgery. That made the signing a bit of a risk to begin with.
But Graveman then suffered a lower back injury before the season began that held him out all the way until May 12. Upon his return, he stacked together a handful of scoreless appearances, with just two earned runs over his first 7.1 innings.
Then, he was blown up for an abysmal six-run frame on June 7. Just following that appearance, he landed on the IL again, this time with a hip impingement.
That held him out for a month. Though he had some success on his second return, he began to struggle more frequently, eventually giving up three runs in an inning to the Colorado Rockies. That led to his DFA and eventual release.
For the full season, Graveman gave up 23 hits and 12 walks over 17.2 innings, while only striking out nine.
Kendall Graveman: 2026 Outlook
Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Kendall Graveman (49) pitches against the Houston Astros at Chase Field on July 21, 2025. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Graveman isn’t a reunion candidate, but his season stands out as a cautionary tale for the D-backs this offseason.
With the payroll expected to be reduced, and a variety of offseason needs, the temptation may be to try and find a similar bargain signing. Rather than signing a proven closer, the D-backs may look to find another low-cost veteran arm with some amount of leverage experience.
But that likely won’t be a reliable enough move to get the job done in the ninth inning consistently. Esepcially if there are injury concerns like Graveman’s, the D-backs should focus their resources on a brand-name reliever instead of looking to steal a hidden gem.
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