{"id":592432,"date":"2026-02-25T16:42:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T16:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/592432\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T16:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T16:42:16","slug":"arizona-diamondbacks-news-2-25-texas-toast-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/592432\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona Diamondbacks News, 2\/25: Texas toast"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Dbacks.com] Soroka fans 3 in D-backs debut with World Baseball Classic approaching<\/a> \u2013 Soroka allowed one run on two hits over two innings while walking one and striking out three in the D-backs\u2019 6-4 win. \u201cFelt good for the most part,\u201d Soroka said. \u201cJust a little bit stiff early, trying a little bit too hard to make everything do what it\u2019s supposed to do. I think I settled in a little bit and just got right to it and we made our adjustments, and made some good pitches, and some that I want to forget, so we\u2019ll move forward. \u201cI threw a really good fastball for a take there in the second inning. I had some good finish pitches, threw a couple of good breaking balls that were executed and the cutter was great today.\u201d<\/p>\n

[SI] Crucial Change Could Make Taylor Clarke a Weapon For D-backs Bullpen<\/a> \u2013 The right-hander made tweaks to his mechanics and reintroduced his sinker ahead of 2025, which paid immediate dividends. He posted a career-low 3.25 ERA over 55.1 innings last season. \u201cLast year, tweaked some things. We added the sinker back and I think that\u2019s helped out a lot,\u201d Clarke said. \u201cIt\u2019s just something to run in on righties, give them a different look than a four-seam, because I feel like I was getting a little bit too predictable with four-seams up, sliders away. \u201cBut the largest, most impactful difference is to his changeup. [Cross \u201cadded new pitch\u201d off your Soring Training Bingo card!]<\/p>\n

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[AZ Central] Here\u2019s the latest on Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly\u2019s back injury<\/a> \u2013 Lovullo said Kelly, who underwent an MRI earlier in the week, also had a CT scan, in hopes of finding more clarity on the specifics of the injury. \u201cIt\u2019s a wide range,\u201d Lovullo said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to lie. We\u2019re being very thorough with what we\u2019re doing. We\u2019re taking every test necessary to make sure that we get everything in the bag before we start to pass that information along. We\u2019ve got to figure out exactly what\u2019s happening in there.\u201d Kelly is the Diamondbacks\u2019 scheduled Opening Day starter. The back issue raises questions about whether he will be available to make that March 26 start vs. the Dodgers.<\/p>\n

[Denver Post] Arenado \u2018will be a force\u2019 in NL West, Rockies\u2019 Warren Schaeffer says<\/a> \u2013 The former Rockies and Cardinals star might not rise to his former glory in the desert, but he\u2019s confident he\u2019ll make the D-backs a better team. He padded that confidence with a solo home run in his first Cactus League at-bat, punishing a hanging sweeper from Rockies right-hander Antonio Senzatela.\u201c My expectations are high, and they are high for this group,\u201d Arenado said after taking batting practice at Salt River Fields. \u201cI think this team is really good. This is a top-10 offense without me, but I think I can really help it. I think I\u2019m making adjustments that will really help me. You know me, I like to keep goals to myself, but I do have hefty goals. I don\u2019t think I am ever going to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Fangraphs] No Room at the Infield: Jordan Lawlar Moves To Center Field<\/a> \u2013 As far as Lawlar\u2019s ability to play center field, I have no doubt about his physical tools. While the orthodox move would\u2019ve been third base, the shortstop-to-center field path has been well-traveled. Jackson Merrill did fine. So did Mickey Mantle. Lawlar absolutely has the speed for the position; he hit 30 ft\/sec in sprint speed last year, putting him in capital-e Elite territory. A shift to center field might actually bring out the best in Lawlar. One of Eric Longenhagen\u2019s few gripes about Lawlar\u2019s defense was his tendency to make awkward throws on the run, especially off his backhand. He got the job done, it just looked a little janky.<\/p>\n

[Arizona Sports] Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte are top D-backs in ESPN Olney\u2019s top 10 MLB positional rankings<\/a> \u2013 The top-ranked D-back in Marte produced what Olney equated to \u201cabout $135 million in value\u201d over the last three years. His 2025 fWar of 10.9 was more than two full points ahead of Hoerner\u2019s 8.7 in second, while his batting value on FanGraphs of 65.8 was more than double that of Houston Astros\u2019 Jose Altuve (31.2) in second. \u201cHe excels offensively, and while the numbers suggest he is just average defensively, he continues to be the preeminent player at this position.\u201d<\/p>\n

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[SI] Diamondbacks Release Young Reliever<\/a> \u2013 According to the transaction logs on his player page, the Arizona Diamondbacks have officially released right-handed reliever Christian Montes De Oca. He had been previously outrighted off the 40-man roster earlier in the offseason. Montes De Oca, 26, figured to be a developmental arm in the D-backs\u2019 system worth keeping an eye on after making his major league debut in the 2025 season. However, an injury shortened that campaign and prevented him from making more than one appearance in the majors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[Dbacks.com] Soroka fans 3 in D-backs debut with World Baseball Classic approaching \u2013 Soroka allowed one run on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2404],"tags":[3569,146,22,4314,5,160,12307,38,39,1533,54,871,543,817,729,660,4,168,4957,1630,4820],"class_list":["post-592432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-antonio-senzatela","tag-arizona","tag-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-arizonadiamondbacks","tag-baseball","tag-cardinals","tag-christian-montes-de-oca","tag-diamondbacks","tag-dodgers","tag-geraldo-perdomo","tag-houston-astros","tag-jackson-merrill","tag-jordan-lawlar","tag-jose-altuve","tag-ketel-marte","tag-merrill-kelly","tag-mlb","tag-rockies","tag-soroka","tag-taylor-clarke","tag-world-baseball-classic"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116132272199149357","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}