Arizona Diamondbacks Game Preview, #112: Meet the Mets

Zack Greinke RHP, 10-3, 3.62

Steven Matz LHP, 8-8, 3.63

Jean Segura - 2B	Curtis Granderson - CF
Michael Bourn - CF	Neil Walker - 2B
Paul Goldschmidt - 1B	Jay Bruce - RF
Rickie Weeks - LF	James Loney - 1B
Yasmany Tomas - RF	Wilmer Flores - 3B
Jake Lamb - 3B	Michael Conforto - LF
Chris Owings - SS	Travis d'Arnaud - C
Tuffy Gosewisch - C	Matt Reynolds - SS
Zack Greinke - RHP	Steven Matz - LHP

The D-backs go into the Big Apple, and should get a boost with the return of Zack Greinke after he missed 31 games with an oblique strain. This has had a ripple effect on our pitching staff, with Zack Godley going into the bullpen, likely to replace Josh Collmenter as the long relief man. Evan Marshall ended up displaced from the 25-man roster, providing further evidence that Dominic Leone and his 9.00 ERA must have kidnapped Dave Stewart’s grandmother or something. The last time we saw Greinke, he threw two innings against the Phillies on June 28. That, more technically than anything, extended his unbeaten streak to nine starts, going 7-0 with a 2.26 ERA in that time.

The last D-backs starter to do this was... Chase Anderson, whom we saw over the weekend, pitching for the Phillies. He went 3-0 over nine starts in May and June last year. The last D-backs starter to reach double figures was Patrick Corbin, who went 17 undefeated starts, covering his last one in 2012, then all the way through June 27 the following year. Curiously, this isn’t an area in which Randy Johnson did particularly well: his best streak was 13. That was beaten not only by Corbin, but also by Brandon Webb (14). The top spots, surprisingly, belong to Armando Reynoso (17) and Brian Anderson, whose 19 starts from July 1999 through June 2000 is the franchise best.

Tuffy gets the start, with Beef off having little calves or something. I must confess, on seeing the headline ‘Hernandez recalled,’ I had to stop and think for several seconds, to whom that referred. It’s not impossible we don’t actually see him at all before Welington Castillo returns and Oscar Hernandez is sent back down. After all, he managed to spend the entire 2015 campaign on the 25-man roster or the DL, while starting seven games and appearing in a total of just 18. Can’t be many Rule 5 picks who were so completely invisible to the team that selected him! But with Chris Herrmann also on the DL, Oscar is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster, so here he is.