The Diamondbacks did the World a favour.
For every Series Preview, there is good news and bad news.
The good news is that the Diamondbacks just owned the Dodgers.
Dodgers fans shrug about the loss, they say. They still have a huge lead in the NL West, they say. Making the post-season is as easy as pie, they say. The string of losses is no reason for concern, they say.
But they won’t say that it hurt that the Diamondbacks planted their shoe in the Dodgers faces. They won’t say the Diamondbacks silenced Dodger stadium this past weekend. They won’t say that they were
planning the past weekend on making fun of Arizona after beating the shit out of the them.
Beating the Dodgers is the best news you can have. And we not only did ourselves a favour and give ourselves moments of joy. The Dodgers have become the “Argentina” of baseball. They are the Patriots and the Cowboys combined. Everyone hates their guts. And everyone wants them to lose. In the name of the entire world, I thank you, Arizona Diamondbacks, for serving the entire world.
The bad news is, this is all part of the past now.
Sweep needed.
Arizona is 6 games behind the Cubs, who hold the first Wild Card. The Cubs will be the team to beat in the Wild Card, because they are 5.5 games behind their league leader, Milwaukee Brewers. That leaves Arizona batting for two of the remaining wild cards. Enter the conversation the Phillies and Padres, who, just like Diamondbacks, have a positive balance over their final 10 games. Marlins and Cardinals should not be forgotten either, Nationals and Pirates are some games below .500 and remain on the outskirts, hoping for a huge winning streak.
The remaining schedule is lots of fun for Arizona, with so many important series against direct opponents or other strong opponents. Only few series are against teams that have nothing left to play for. Like the Giants, who we will meet at the end of the month, or the Royals, who we will fight against at the beginning of September. With so much left to play for and many good opponents waiting to take the venom out of the Snakes, a series against the Colorado Rockies becomes a must-win and a need for sweep. It feels like too often we have failed to reach the play-offs because of some games in which we utterly failed to capitalize on weak opponents. Let’s hope we don’t make that mistake again in the upcoming series.
We met the Rockies mid May. The doctor told us to heal in Colorado. The team was 20-22 at that moment, so you can imagine how our state of mind. We got some good doctor’s advice, helped by the MLB, who set us up for 13 consecutive games in 4 series against the Rockies and Giants. The Diamondbacks went 11-2, the two losses against the Rockies, and boosted themselves back into the Wild Card battle.
Colorado dropped 4 against Arizona and since that second series, on May 22, the Rockies have gone 26-38. That leaves them with a 46-72 record, just one game better than MLB’s worst team: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. You would say, this team, we need to sweep em.
The past trade deadline the Rockies were quiet. Despite the terrible record, they see some good stuff in their position players, where most of them are to be on the roster for the years to come. They even extended designated hitter Mickey Moniak to buy out his first free agency year (2028).
They traded away Antonio Senzatela, who was playing in the final year of a previous extension. Senzatela, now exclusively deployed as a reliever, has joined the almighty Brewers. The other three moves did not get much media attention. Seth Halvorsen, a 26-year old reliever with 71 major league innings this and the past two seasons, was acquired by the Dodgers in a below-the-radar-trade. Another reliever, Victor Vodnik, joined the Marlins. The White Sox trading for 2023 and 2024 Golden Glover Brenton Doyle, who is no longer blessed with an average hitting tool, was more surprising and will not hurt the Rockies. In all trades the Rockies added to their farm and depth, with Nick Frasso, acquired from the Dodgers, the only one added to the major league roster.
The Rockies head to Phoenix after losing 2-1 against the Cardinals in St. Louis. They took 5 from the Diamondbacks last season and 4 the year before, so let us improve on that. Currently Arizona wins the season series 5-2.
Matchups.
Game #1 Mon 08/10 6:40 PM MST, Michael Soroka (ARI) vs Gabriel Hughes (COL).
- Michael Soroka. 15 GS, 82.0 IP, 8 W-3 L, 3.07 ERA, 2.92 FIP, 1.09 WHIP, 79/17 K/BB. $6,750,000.
- Gabriel Hughes. 6 G, 5 GS, 29.2 IP, 0 W-3 L, 4.25 ERA, 2.65 FIP, 1.18 WHIP, 28/9 K/BB. $406,394.
Though he still needs to be added to the active roster at the time of writing, Soroka is scheduled to return to the major leagues after almost two months, getting injured against the Twins on June 19, tearing a muscle. Soroka made just one rehab appearance, in Reno, throwing 57 pitches in 4 innings, allowing a run on 3 hits and 2 walks, against just one strikeout. I suppose he will be on a pitch limit.
By the time Soroka leaves the game, the Diamondbacks will surely hope that the Rockies are far behind, though early results indicate that Gabriel Hughes might be a tough nut to crack. Hughes made his first major league start in July, against the Dodgers, allowing 3 runs over 6 innings and striking out 7. He then continued to excel against the Reds and Nationals, before running into a bit more trouble against the Padres. However, it wasn’t until his latest appearance, against Tampa Bay, before he had more problems, allowing 5 runs (1 homerun) over 5.1 innings. Hughes was taken by the Colorado Rockies with the 10th pick in the 2022 draft and, according to FanGraphs, projects as a back-end starter. He wasn’t dominating the PCL for Albuquerque nor has he dominated the minors until now, so his early success might be smoke and mirrors. The righty relies heavily on a 93-mph fastball and complements it with a sweeper and a slider. Left-handed batters also are served a changeup and curve.
Game #2 Tue 08/11 6:40 PM MST, Mitch Bratt (ARI) vs Tomoyuki Sugano (COL).
- Mitch Bratt. 6 GS, 27.2 IP, 1 W-1 L, 3.90 ERA, 5.51 FIP, 1.52 WHIP, 21/18 K/BB. $366,251.
- Tomoyuki Sugano. 20 GS, 107.2 IP, 11 W-5 L, 4.51 ERA, 5.39 FIP, 1.26 WHIP, 61/26 K/BB. $5,100,000.
Most sites write him out of the rotation, but truth is that in his last two performances, Bratt has been excellent for the Diamondbacks, allowing just 1 run in 12 innings against Cleveland and San Diego. Against the Rockies Bratt will have another opportunity to add some major league experience, hoping to provide enough to cement his name in the rotation for yet another week.
Like I wrote in a previous series preview, Sugano was an unfamiliar face for the Snakes, because 2026 is only the second season for the 36-year old Japanese pitcher in the MLB. Last season he was a back-end starter for the Baltimore Orioles.
Sugano can make use of a huge amount of 7 different pitches: 4-seamer, split finger, cutter, sinker, slider, sweeper and curveball. All that off-speed and breaking ball arsenal is to hide a weak fastball collection (his 4-FB averages below 93 mph). Sugano has good command and hardly walks a batter.
It has been a recipe for success for Sugano against the Diamondbacks this season. He already faced Arizona twice and although he gave up 2 runs in each of his performances against the Snakes, it was good for a win and no-decision, despite giving up 13 hits in 11.2 innings. Third time’s a charm, they say.
Game #3 Wed 08/12 12:40 PM MST, Merrill Kelly (ARI) vs Ryan Feltner (COL).
- Merrill Kelly. 21 GS, 120.0 IP, 8 W-9 L, 4.88 ERA, 5.57 FIP, 1.47 WHIP, 80/50 K/BB. $18,000,000.
- Ryan Feltner. 17 GS, 82.0 IP, 4 W-6 L, 5.71 ERA, 5.75 FIP, 1.45 WHIP, 59/33 K/BB. $2,450,000.
Last time Merrill pitched against the Rockies, he was able to pitch a complete game, allowing just one (home)run. Needless to say more.
A 4th round pick in the 2018 draft, Feltner has been pretty much part of the major league team since 2022, though not much more than a fringe back-end starter, except for a fine 2024 season, taking into account Rockies and Coors Field standards. This year Feltner is struggling heavily, especially away from Coors Field, with a .295 BA against, with BABIP at an average .300. Especially July was a tough month, allowing a 1.100 OPS and 20 runs in just 4 games.
His changeup and sweeper are his best pitches, the first one for left-handed batters, the other for right-handed batters. The rest of the arsenal (four-seamer, slider, sinker, curve) is graded poorly by statcast.
Last time Feltner pitched against the Diamondbacks was in 2024. In total he has give up 16 runs against Arizona, in 4 games (18.2 innings). The last time, though, he got his first win, at Chase Field.
