GM Mike Hazen on Diamondbacks starting pitching: ‘There’s no such thing as having too many’

With the addition of Zac Gallen, the Arizona Diamondbacks now have six legit starting pitchers for the 2026 MLB season, and that doesn’t even account for Corbin Burnes.

But that’s not a worry of general manager Mike Hazen, because if last season taught the Diamondbacks anything, it was that you can never have enough healthy pitchers.

“There’s no such thing as having too many,” Hazen told reporters Sunday. “That’s the way I’m going to approach this. I think last year it was seven to eight starting pitchers, and we didn’t have a problem. That’s the unfortunate nature of the game at times with this position.”

Arizona’s 2025 season was decimated by injuries. The Diamondbacks lost five starting pitchers for the season, including Burnes, and three key relievers.

While many thought the bullpen would be a priority this offseason, the Diamondbacks have loaded up on starting pitching.

They brought back Merrill Kelly after trading him to the Texas Rangers at the 2025 trade deadline, signed Michael Soroka and Gallen to add to Ryne Nelson, Brandon Pfaadt and Eduardo Rodriguez.

Now, Arizona could have seven reliable starters by July if Burnes comes back as expected. But Hazen said that doesn’t take away from any of his pitchers’ importance.

“Nothing’s going to have changed with anybody here with what we talked to them about in their roles,” Hazen said. “We’re not going to proceed any differently and having Zac here strengthens that part of our team, and I’m happy about that.

“It’s one of the huge benefits of doing this, not only having a talent the caliber of Zac, but also now it builds out another really good starting pitcher in our rotation. I don’t know how many starting pitchers we used last year. I’m assuming we’re gonna use the same amount of starting pitchers this year.”

While some teams opt to use a six-man rotation when they have enough pitchers to do so, Hazen said the Diamondbacks would “probably not.”

Arizona had the fifth-highest payroll of injured players last season, according to Spotrac, and the sixth-highest potential WAR loss from injuries, according to FanGraphs.

The Diamondbacks are prepared for bumps along the road with their starters in 2026, and excess doesn’t even come to mind.

“I don’t care to think about it with the excess starters,” manager Torey Lovullo told reporters Sunday. “I know what we’ve had here in the past, and last year we were looking for starters at a certain point early in the season.”

If Gallen is ready for the start of the season, the Diamondbacks would have six healthy pitchers with Burnes expected back in July, but that’s assuming no injuries occur.

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