Arizona Diamondbacks look to continue momentum versus the A’s

The Diamondbacks move next to the [Citation Needed] Athletics for a three game series at the at the hanger-esque confines of Chase Field. Previously, they had faced off against the St. Louis Cardinals in quite the mixed bag of a series. It started with a sloppy loss coming backing from the All Start Break, a solid win, then a dramatic, record-tying 7 run comeback and a Corbin Carroll injury. While Carroll is considered day-to-day, the emotions were still all over the place. Still, they are three games

over .500, a half game out of the Wild Card, and, perhaps most importantly, now own the tie breaker over the Cardinals if it comes down to it at the end of the season.

The A’s are a joke of a franchise, owned by a joke of an owner, playing in a joke of a stadium, and are playing baseball of a quality that their minor league stadium deserves. Their record sits at 42-57 and are losers in nine of their last ten. They are 8.5 games out of the Wild Card and 8 games behind the AL West leading Rangers. #SellTheTeam

Game 1 — 7/20, 6:40 PM: Jeffrey Springs (-0.3 bWAR, 3-9, 6.08 ERA/75 ERA+, 1.42 WHIP) vs. Mitch Bratt (-0.1 bWAR, 0-0, 6.00 ERA/76 ERA+, 1.66 WHIP)

Springs has struggled, as his ERA would suggest. He started off strong this season, a 1.46 ERA in his first four games, but in his fifth game he gave up seven runs and just hasn’t recovered. Recently, it’s been particularly bad. In his last six starts, he has given up at least five runs in five of those starts. In situations like this, it’s hard to point to just one thing that is causing the issues, but the fact that his Hr/9 is an entire home run higher than his career, and his strike outs are 1.5 per nine lower is probably directly related.

Bratt has made two starts in his burgeoning career. Both were for just three innings. In the first game he held the Cardinals to just a single run, he did not fare as well against the Dodgers, giving up three. The bullpen will need to come ready to work in this one, as they’ll probably have six innings or so to cover when it’s all said and done.

Game 2 — 7/21, 6:40 PM: Jack Perkins (-0.7 bWAR, 2-5, 6.87 ERA/66 ERA+, 1.43 WHIP) vs. TBD

Perkins started the season in the bullpen with less than stellar results. Then, at the beginning of June, he moved to the starting rotation where he’s been even worse. In the bullpen, he muddled along to an ERA of 5.46, though his FIP was astronomically lower at 2.60. However, in his seven starts (one did feature an opener), he is sporting an ERA of 8.19, and his FIP, while lower, is still at 6.13. As a starter, he has only given up fewer than three runs once, so this is another match up that the Diamondbacks offense should be looking to capitalize on.

Game 3 — 7/22, 12:10 PM: Gage Jump (1.3 bWAR, 3-5, 3.78 ERA/121 ERA+, 1.31 WHIP vs. Merrill Kelly (-0.1 bWAR, 7-8, 5.20 ERA/83 ERA+, 1.49 WHIP)

Jump’s rookie season is a bright spot for the A’s this season. He’s made ten starts and the majority of them have been solid. There have been recent rough patches, however, as three of his last four starts have resulted in four or more runs being given up. This correlates with more consistent walks being issued. Diamondbacks hitters may be able to take advantage of that and push the issue in all three games.

Kelly has shown improvements and maybe trending back towards his normal self in his last couple of starts. Against both the Cardinals and Padres, he gave up a single solo home run as far as earned runs allowed (though the Cardinals did score two more unearned), and against the Brewers he only gave up two. Also encouraging is that in two of those games he tied his season high for strike outs at six, hopefully a sign that his large arsenal is working for him rather than against him now. If the Diamondbacks are going to have any hope of being contenders, a fully functional Merrill Kelly might be the most important factor.

Conclusion

This is an imminently winnable series. The Athletics are a sub-par team that is currently reeling from a brutal stretch of losses. The Diamondbacks, on the other hand, have won 7-3, including a sweep of the league-leading Dodgers and that key series victory against direct Wild Card rivals, the Cardinals. Momentum has been proven false time and time again, but if it did exist, it would be firmly on the side of the Diamondbacks. That being said, I feel confident right now, and I will predict a series sweep for the Snakes here at Chase. Go Dbacks!