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Noah Syndergaard
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Braden Shipley
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| Jose Reyes - SS | Jean Segura - 2B |
| Curtis Granderson - LF | Michael Bourn - CF |
| Jay Bruce - RF | Paul Goldschmidt - 1B |
| James Loney - 1B | Jake Lamb - 3B |
| Kelly Johnson - 2B | Yasmany Tomas - RF |
| T.J. Rivera - 3B | Welington Castillo - C |
| Alejandro De Aza - CF | Mitch Haniger - LF |
| Rene Rivera - C | Chris Owings - SS |
| Noah Syndergaard - RHP | Braden Shipley - RHP |
Looks like Michael is preparing a more detailed report on Haniger, if the editorial queue is to be believed, so I'll skip the detailed evaluation. I will mention that he will be the seventh player to make his major-league debut for the Diamondbacks this year, but only the second position player, after Mike Freeman. Hopefully, Haniger sticks around and has a bit more success than Freeman i.e. gets a hit with the D-backs! [The five pitchers, incidentally, are Jake Barrett, Matt Buschmann, Zac Curtis, Steve Hathaway and Shipley] Still plenty of time yet - not least, September call-ups of course - but the current tally of seven is the lowest number of debutants for Arizona since 2008. Last year, we had a dozen.
It's going to be interesting to see where about in the outfield Haniger plays. I tend to agree with those who have said that he should be playing over Michael Bourn and Rickie Weeks Jr. Today, it seems to be at the cost of Brandon Drury, but we'll see if the team perhaps manages to shift one or both of the veterans before the post-season roster deadline at the end of the month. Haniger has certainly impressed in the minors this season. While we've seen people put up good numbers there before, then flop at the major-league level (see: O'Brien, Peter), Haniger's numbers are positively stratospheric. He could lose 100 points of OBP plus 200 of SLG, and still be a worthwhile contributor. We'll see...
Elsewhere, we'll see if Shipley can continue his recent run of form, which has seen him allow two earned runs over his last three starts and 19 innings. Like last night's starter Robbie Ray, Shipley blanked the Mets for seven innings in New York, so we'll see how they have adjusted in response, and how Braden adjusts to their adjustments. It would be amusing for the team to beat the Mets for a 5th consecutive contest: that would mean the team has as many wins against the Mets in the past eight days, as they have against every other opponent combined since July 17 [one versus the Reds and the Dodgers, plus three against the Brewers]