They did it in probably the hardest fashion possible, but the Diamondbacks won a series victory over the Angels. It worked out to basically be treading water. They remain two games above .500 and are still a half game out of the third Wild Card spot. Not a bad position to be in, though, especially given they’ve only played the one, two game series against the Padres. Still plenty of time to make up that half game.
The Twins are on a bit of a run right now. They took two out of three against the Cardinals
(slowly doing their part to correct the current Interleague imbalance) and then beat the crap out of the Rangers for three games scoring four, twelve, and nine runs. Beyond that, however, they find themselves four games below .500 and a game and a half out of the final Wild Card spot in the AL.
Game 1 — 6/19, 6:45 PM: Michael Soroka (2.0 bWAR, 8-3, 3.11 ERA/136 ERA+, 1.07 WHIP)vs. Connor Prielipp (-0.1 bWAR, 2-4, 5.26 ERA/83 ERA+, 1.34 WHIP)
Michael Soroka continues to be the best free agent starting pitching acquisition in recent memory. In his last five starts, he has only given up more than two runs once. He’s only given up one in each of his last two starts, and he has also gone a minimum of six innings pitched in all five of those starts as well. It’s worth noting, as well, that his FIP is actually a smidge lower than his actual ERA at 2.92. There’s nothing to indicate that this isn’t going to be sustainable from here.
Prielipp is a rookie with just ten starts under his belt so far. He was called up at the end of April and started out strong with three straight starts of just two runs given up. Since then, it’s been much more all over the place. The low point was his back to back starts at the end of May where he gave up six runs, but it hasn’t gotten a ton better since then, with the next three seeing four, two, and four runs each. He’s struggled with walks, so patience will be a virtue for the Diamondbacks.
Game 2 — 6/20, 7:10 PM: Zac Gallen (-0.8 bWAR, 3-5, 5.35 ERA/79 ERA+, 1.53 WHIP) vs. Taj Bradley (1.4 bWAR, 5-3, 4.14 ERA/105 ERA+, 1.34 WHIP)
Gallen pitched fine his last time out. Not $20+ million fine, but at this point we’ll take what we can get. Despite the results, he still struggled with home runs again, as he has for most of the season. It was his fourth multi home run game of the season, and on the flip side, the strike outs still weren’t there, only recording four in six innings. We’ll see if he can make it two in a row.
Bradley started off the season well. Through May 5th, he had an ERA of 2.897, then he went down with a right pec injury. He missed the majority of the remaining month, and when he came back he just wasn’t really the same pitcher. In his first game back, he threw five innings of one run ball, but after that, he has four straight games of at least four earned runs given up. This is a pitcher who is struggling and the Diamondbacks offense needs to take advantage.
Game 3 — 6/21, 12:15 PM: TBD vs Ryne Nelson (-0.5 bWAR, 3-5, 4.97 ERA/85 ERA+, 1.23 WHIP)
In his last five starts, Nelson has been alternating good and bad outings. He either goes eight innings of one run baseball or four innings of seven runs. There is no in between right now. Unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, his last start ell solidly under the banner of good, seeing him throw seven innings, and only giving up two earned runs.
Conclusion
The Diamondbacks should have a pretty decent shot at this series. The Twins are on a hot streak, but are still not doing well over all. The Gallen game is always a drag at this point, but Soroka has been nails, and Nelson has at least recent success to give hope. I think the Diamondbacks take two out of three, and probably remain a half game out of the Wild Card.
