Get those hot-dogs out!
I hope you enjoyed your day off, and are back refreshed, and ready for some more D-backs baseball. This weekend see a visit from the Brewers, who have started off this year with exactly the same 7-6 record as the D-backs. However, they have been outscored by their opponents by six runs, compared to Arizona’s run differential of +13. That is mostly due to the shellacking their pitching staff endured over their opening four games, allowing 47 runs against the Yankees and Royals. Things have tightened up considerably since the calendar turned the page. Over the last nine games, they are 7-2 with a 2.63 ERA: only the Mets (1.97) have a lower ERA in the National League for April.
So I tend to think it’s going to be a harder series for us than ish95 reckoned in the preview. A lot will depend on which incarnation of our starting pitching shows up. Virtually everyone has been consistent only in their inconsistency. Eduardo Rodriguez, tonight’s starter, is the exception to the rule, posting Game Scores of exactly 52 in both of his previous outings. His last time on the mound, he got strikeouts for 12 of the 15 outs recorded, It’s only the second time in franchise history a true starting pitcher i.e. not an opener, for Arizona has fanned 60% or more of the batters faced. The only other time was, of course, Randy Johnson’s record game, where he struck out 20 of 29.
Some injury news from Torey Lovullo before tonight’s game. Kevin Ginkel appears to have leap-frogged Kendall Graveman in terms of who’s likely to be back next: Ginkel will now face live batters, Gravemen will throw another bullpen. There was also good news on the Ketel Marte front, where Lovullo for the first time gave an expected timeline for Marte’s return. Either somewhere around the end of April, or not long into May is the current hope, though of course this will depend on everything progressing smoothly as Ketel continues his rehab from the hamstring strain. With all respect to both Garrett Hampson and Tim Tawa, I imagine all D-backs’ fans will be looking forward to that.