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Diamondbacks Lineup
- Gerardo Parra - RF
- Chris Owings - SS
- Paul Goldschmidt - 1B
- Miguel Montero - C
- Aaron Hill - 2B
- Martin Prado - 3B
- A.J. Pollock - LF
- Ender Inciarte - CF
- Josh Collmenter - P
I think it would be kinda cool to see both Marshall and Anderson in the game. We have had two major-league debuts in the same contest a few times for Arizona, but it hasn't happened for a while. You've got to go back almost five years, to May 13, 2009: that game say the first major-league appearance of both Gerardo Parra and Bryan Augenstein. One of those has proved rather more successful than the other, Augensten being limited to 12 appearances, seven with Arizona and five for St. Louis. He's now in the Tigers' organization, but is on the DL with an oblique strain. It seems particularly appropriate for a double debut, since tonight is also Parra's 27 birthday.
Good to see Pollock back in the line-up, having barely been seen since the series against Colorado - his last start was on April 29, so a week ago today. As was rumbled about in Gibson's comments, Pollock will be in left field, in an effort to help nurse his groin, which would suggest that's still not 100%. I'm not sure: part of me would rather he have been DL'd and given a chance to get completely fit, rather than potentially risk a more serious injury. However, I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, so I'll presume the Diamondbacks know what they're doing. But between Mark Trumbo, a still-rehabbing Cody Ross, and now a sub-par Pollock, RF hasn't seen the best of health for us.
The other interesting thing is the promotion of Owings to second spot in the order, with Prado dropping down to sixth. Clearly, this is a reward for Owings going 0-for-3 last night. It'll be his first game in the majors as a #2 hitter: he had one outing starting in the lead-off spot earlier this year, going 1-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts on April 21st against the Cubs. Curious to see how this works: Owings' walk-rate, deemed a weakness in the minors, hasn't been disastrous this year: at 7.4%, it's a little lower than you'd like (major league average is 8.0%), but his overall OBP of .355 has been more than acceptable.