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Yeah... They should probably be charging spring training prices for this game at Chase Field. Because as the old joke goes, it’s a veritable “Who’s He?” of Diamondbacks players. From the sublime delights of yesterday’s walk-off win and playoff-clinch, we plummet into the depths of what is now a poster child for meaningless September baseball. Among the eight position players, Brandon Drury is the only one to have been worth more than half a win by bWAR this year. I can only presume he offended Torey Lovullo yesterday, and so was not given the day off, like just about every other meaningful Diamondback.
Still, there will be some treats to savor, including the first major-league start in the field for Christian Walker since 2014. His two starts in 2015 were both as DH, and his seven appearancs for the D-backs have all been as a pinch-hitter. John Ryan Murphy will also get his first start, and get his first at-bat as a Diamondback, having been limited to two late-inning defensive replacements, in games which Arizona won by a total margin of 20-0. I also look forward to seeing Rey Fuentes batting fifth, in what can only be a masterful troll job by Torey Lovullo, aimed at all the Twitter haterz of his line-up construction.
But after two weeks of tense baseball, it’s going to be great to have a game that we can simply kick back and relax, without any real worries, concerns, or frantic refreshing of the scoreboard page on ESPN, where I’ve been encamped every night for about the past week. About the only thing I want to see from this game is a good performance from Zack Godley, get the starting pitching back into a groove for the final week. Otherwise, even a loss - hampering the Giants’ chances of the #1 overall pick next year - would not be of much concern!