Preview #137: Arizona Diamondbacks @ Colorado Rockies

Well, that certainly is... a line-up, isn’t it? :) If we’re going to get to 10 wins in a row, it’s coming from a starting nine which doesn’t have Paul Goldschmidt, J.D. Martinez or A.J. Pollock in it. But if you can’t trust your manager who has guided you to a 99.7% playoff probability, who can you trust? I think we’re actually now reaping the rewards off Lovullo’s rotational strategy from earlier in the season. Witness the following Tweets from fans of other teams, who have clearly noticed a difference between the two sides in this series.

Those games back in May and June when we gave core players a day off, seem to have been repaid, with interest, in this ongoing nine-game winning streak - five of them coming against other teams in playoff spots. I must confess, I am a little surprised to see such a relaxed line-up for a game which, if we win, could be the final nail in the Rockies’ hopes of securing home-field. But, I guess, having already secured the series win on the road, this is seriously playing with house money. I note Colorado are sitting Nolan Arenado and Mark Reynolds here as well, so it’s not just going to be th Diamondbacks.

Negron makes his debut as a Diamondback, becoming the 44th player and 22nd position player used by the team this season. I imagine he’ll show up eventually as one of the trickier answers on a “Name all the players to have started at 1B for Arizona” Sporcle! Interesting see Lamb in the #3 hole and Iannetta batting clean-up this afternoon. We’ll see if this line-up can deliver more early runs, and give the team a chance at setting the all-time best in recorded baseball history for consecutive innings with the lead. The D-backs currently sit at 52, needing to get through the first four frames in Coors to set a new mark.