Dbacks 3, Mariners 1: Night Baseball is Back!

It feels so good to be back to doing recaps! Was a long offseason. Today was a picture perfect spring training evening in Peoria. The Dbacks took on the Mariners for their first night game of the season under a picturesque Arizona sunset. What a night for baseball.

The Dbacks pitching tonight shined against the Mariners offense. Starter Ryne Nelson looked sharp tonight. His trademark 4 seamer was popping the mitt at 97 mph in his 2 innings. He was able to strike out 3 batters in the 2 innings of work and showcased an arsenal that all graded out as above average per pro stuff plus according to pitch profiler. Most notably for me, his fastball averaged 19” of IVB and his cutter had a 60% whiff rate. Certainly a welcome site after the latest injury news to the rotation and the opening day starter vacancy.

If you would have gotten up to get a beer in the top of the second inning, you would have missed the entire Dbacks offense for the night as it came on a single pitch to AJ Vukovich. Vukovich was able to take a full count sinker above the zone from Mariners regular Luis Castillo out to right center for a 3 run shot. The ball was hit hard, but was also at a 36 degree launch angle likely indicating some wind assistance. Still, what a great moment for the Dbacks minor league journeyman hitting his 2^nd homer of the young spring. The once top Dbacks prospect Vukovich enjoyed a resurgence season last year in Reno belting 22 HR and an .853 OPS. Particularly, Vukovich appeared to figure some things out towards the end of last season batting .354 with 5 HR in the final 30 games of the 2025 season. At still just 24 years old, I suppose Vukovich still has an outside chance at breaking camp as the 4^th OF, especially since Gurriel Jr is likely to begin the season on the IL. Don’t be surprised to see his name in the mix.

Groover was also able to add a pair of hits tonight. A welcomed site after the shakiness he has shown at 3^rd this spring. Ildemaro Vargas also continued to cement an opening day role with this team playing SS and adding 2 more hits of his own.

The bullpen looked especially sharp tonight with notable outings from new (but old) guy Taylor Clarke, former top pick Landon Sims, and most notably for me rising star Daniel Eagan. Eagan put together an especially strong pro debut season last year, and looked incredibly sharp in 2 scoreless innings highlighted by 5 swing and misses largely thanks to his 4 seam fast ball with 19” of IVB sitting 95 mph. That paired with a hammer curve ball was a sight to see. According to TJ Stats, Eagan’s stuff+ averaged 104 thanks to an especially filthy cutter at 110. Maybe there is some room for optimism especially given the Dbacks shift in pitching philosophy highlighted by moving on from Dan Haren and the addition of Jeremy Bleich?

Dbacks would wind up winning this one thanks to their pitching, but most importantly we are watching night baseball games again on a Friday night! Who else had fun?