Concerning Zac Gallen Trend Continued in D-backs Loss to Dodgers

Zac Gallen looked like a revitalized pitcher for the first four innings of the Arizona Diamondbacks' opening day matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers — until an unfortunate and familiar trend reared its head again.

Gallen was working efficiently in his first four frames, displaying an increase in velocity and picking up swing-and-miss, but after a pair of unfortunate batted ball events, the fifth inning quickly turned disastrous.

That type of inning was a theme that did, at times, plague the right-hander through his ugly 2025 season: some poor batted ball luck spiraling into an eventual big knock — one that would turn a positive outing into a less-favorable one with one swing.

Diamondbacks' Zac Gallen surrenders big inning to Dodgers

Gallen gave up a sharply-hit ground ball that skipped off a sliding Ketel Marte's glove to open the fifth inning. He then induced a weaker ground ball that dribbled to his right, but Gallen's quick reaction and accurate throw was just too late to catch the runner at first.

And then, with two on and no outs, Gallen served up a three-run homer to outfielder Andy Pages, flipping a 2-0 lead into a 3-2 deficit.

Mar 26, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zac Gallen (23) hands the ball to manager Torey Lovullo (17) during a pitching change as infielder Carlos Santana (41) and catcher Gabriel Moreno (14) look on against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Gallen was pulled from that inning without recording an out and two runners on. His final line would include four-plus innings, with five hits allowed, four earned runs, two walks and two strikeouts.

There were still some positives to Gallen's outing. He picked up five whiffs on seven swings against his slider, and two on his cutter. His fastball averaged a sturdy 94.1 MPH, and he was generating some weak contact. The issue Gallen was, as it was often in 2025, one particularly damaging misplaced breaking ball.

It's still early in the season, and the Dodgers' star-studded lineup is one that can hurt even the toughest arms in the game. It's not fair to put assumptions on the rest of Gallen's season based on opening day.

But if the right-hander wants to return to ace form, he'll need to find a way to recover from poor luck. Those types of results come with the territory, and minimizing damage as a result is a major key to staying in command of a game.

Gallen was not overly concerned with his outing, however.

"I feel like we had everything working for the most part," he said (via Arizona Sports on X/Twitter). Four singles and a homer. Tough to, you know, make one of the few mistakes and it leaves the ballpark. ... Not one I'm going to necessarily beat myself up about, really.

"But we mixed pretty good, executed everything in the strike zone for the most part. Just one curveball kind of backed up. Trying to go on top of home plate. For whatever reason, just backed up and just kind of got down and in."

Gallen still has plenty of time to settle into a rhythm, but the Diamondbacks are certainly going to need to see more consistency out of their former ace this season.