Preview #99: Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Atlanta Braves

J.D. Martinez makes his first start at Chase Field this evening, and let’s hope that it goes a bit better than his first start anywhere else. If he could get through the entire game, with his count of functioning limbs in excess of three, that would be nice. He is still also looking for his first hit as a Diamondback, being 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts (and a walk). But at least we’re not going to have to do without our ace pitcher for 4-6 weeks, like certain NL West teams we could mention. I’m hoping it ends up being a little more than six, meaning we won’t see him the rest of the regular season, our final game against the Dodgers being September 6.

It will be interesting to see what adjustments the Diamondbacks have made since their last outing against knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. He was very effective against them in Atlanta, holding them to one run over six innings of work. He faced the Cubs in his last start, and perhaps we can learn from them, as they tagged him with the loss, scoring four runs in seven innings. But it’s worth noting that Dickey’s ERA is more than two runs higher on the road than in Atlanta. Perhaps the humidity there is helpful in terms of movement on his pitches? He has only one win in eight attempts on the road, so hopefully that’s a trend which will persist.

Grienke didn’t see the Braves in the previous series, seeing Cincinnati on both sides of the All-Star break. The last outing was a bit of a slog, Zack requiring 107 pitches to get through five innings. He allowed eight hits, but did get away with a no-decision. Like Dickey, Greinke has been much better at home than on the road, with an ERA in Chase of 2.41 (his road ERA is 3.75), and he has yet to lose a decision in 11 games here, being 9-0. He has a K:BB ratio of 89:13 in 71 innings. The only issue is the home-run: ten of those, responsible for 12 of the 19 runs Greinke has allowed in Chase this year.