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Diamondbacks line-up
- David Peralta LF
- A.J. Pollock CF
- Paul Goldschmidt 1B
- Jake Lamb 3B
- Steven Souza RF
- Ketel Marte 2B
- Chris Herrmann C
- Nick Ahmed SS
- Robbie Ray P
We’re probably an Alex Avila or so away from this potentially being the Opening Day line-up for the Diamondbacks next week. It’s interesting to see Herrmann catching Ray, but I’m also wondering if we’re going to see someone else pitch Opening Day. If it’s going to be Ray, they’re either going to need to short-start him for his final spring outing, or skip it. Because if it’s kept on the usual rotation, Ray’s last appearance would be March 25, which is only four days before the scheduled Opening Day. Of course, it likely won’t make much difference, since we’ll still probably have Ray, Greinke and someone else in the first series, just a different order. But I’m quietly hoping for Zack Godley to get the honor!
I mentioned a couple of days ago, Josh Collmenter’s remarkable spring streak, the only man in recorded D-backs’ pre-season history, to have consecutive springs throwing at least 10 innings without allowing an earned run. It actually began on March 12, 2013, after he allowed two runs in the second inning. He put up zeroes in the 3rd and 4th, then added seven scoreless frames the rest of the way. In 2014, he tossed 12.2 innings of five-hit ball, without allowing a run. The following year, he added 13 more innings, before finally giving up a home-run to Matt Chapman on March 4, 2016 in his first frame. That’s a total streak of 32.2 scoreless pre-season innings for Josh. I’d like to hear of any better.
Today’s game is on Fox Sports Arizona, so we can see if Ray can keep up the decent form of his last couple of starts - three ER over 8.1 innings, with ten strikeouts.