February 19, 2026

Gallen picked a bad time to have a career-worst season. As an impending free agent, Gallen posted career worsts in practically every category, including a 4.83 ERA, 4.50 FIP, 21.5% K rate, and 13.4% K-BB%. That's not the Zac Gallen we came to know and love, and instead of inking a lucrative multiyear deal this offseason, he wound up signing a one-year pact to return to Arizona. It seems like Gallen's collapse came out of nowhere after a three straight years of a sub-3.70 ERA, but the cracks were starting to show in 2024. In 2024 his walk rate rose to 8.7% and his K-BB% fell to 16.4%. His fastball started losing effectiveness in 2024 as well, with a .282 AVG and .462 SLG against, along with plummeting chase and whiff rates. His fastball has lost movement and the shape has changed over the last few years (go to baseballsavant.com and compare his 2023 pitch movement profile to 2025), and now on the wrong side of 30, I don't know if Gallen can reverse these trends. The good news is that his curveball still appeared effective, with a 38.9% whiff rate and a .187 xBA and .255 xwOBA against. He was probably a little unlucky too, with a 67.6% LOB rate (career 74.9%) and a 14.6% HR/FB rate (career 12.1%). The right move for Gallen is probably to take an old-man pitcher approach and throw his secondary stuff more frequently, with less reliance on a diminishing fastball. If he does that, he may be able to post respectable numbers, but his days of being a frontline starter are likely behind him. He can be had cheap, going around pick 225 in NFBC leagues, but even then, I think there are other late-round starters I'd prefer to gamble on over Gallen.--Elliott Baas