Long-suffering Arizona Diamondbacks fans will see the fruits of their much-hyped farm system in 2023, and after three straight losing seasons, it will not come a moment too soon. After a near miss of the Wild Card in 2019, the team had high expectations in 2020, only for the Great Shutdown and a slow start in the shortened season to quell that fire. Injuries galore, including to the entire Opening Day rotation by May 1, led to a nightmare 110-loss 2021 season. Despite vast improvements in 2022, the lack of clutch late-inning relief pitching cost them, at minimum, a winning record and very easily could have cost them a playoff spot.<\/p>\n
But there is hope on the horizon. The new schedule, while keeping a two-and-two home-and-home series with the designated Interleague rival (2023: Texas Rangers<\/a>), includes one series against each of the other 14 teams in the AL. To make room for these games, the Diamondbacks will play their NL West opponents 13 times each instead of 19 teams each. The Diamondbacks\u2019 2022 record against the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> and San Diego Padres<\/a> was a combined 10\u201328 (5\u201314 against each team), while their record against everyone else on the schedule was 64\u201360. Consequently, facing the Southern California Gauntlet fewer times should be welcome news for the fans.<\/p>\n The rotation and the position players will mostly be familiar faces. However, the relievers are almost entirely new. Before we see who will be in the dugout for Opening Day in Los Angeles against the Dodgers Thursday night, let\u2019s see who is currently on the mend.<\/p>\nInjured Players<\/h3>\n