:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59711345/953568230.jpg.0.jpg)
Clayton KershawJustin Verlander- Max Scherzer???
- PROFIT
Tonight, we see if unlikely hero Matt Koch can continue his giant-killing - okay, technically Dodgers- and Astros-killing - ways, taking down another opposing ace. So far, Koch has survived on smoke and mirrors, his 2.13 season ERA more than 4.43 what you’d expect from a pitcher given his K:BB ratio and home-run rate. A .214 batting average on balls in play is a perilously thin peripheral on which to build, so it would be nice if Koch were to walk a few less people, and/or strike some more hitters out. Ideally, both. But both tonight and tomorrow, I’m going in with a pretty relaxed attitude about the whole thing. A win would be nice, but given the pitching match-ups... /insert shrug emoji.
One roster move before this game: Jake Barrett was called up from Reno, with Silvino Bracho taking the bus back to the minors (for those keeping score at home, that would be the end of Bracho’s fifteenth stint with the team). This is, in all likelihood, going to be a short stay for Barrett as well, with the team needing a roster spot for tomorrow’s starter. The D-backs announced that’s going to be Troy Scribner, who will not exactly have an easy task for his debut, since he’ll be going up against Stephen Strasburg. Hence the shrug emoji mentioned above.
Some injury rehab news. Shelby Miller threw three innings or so against live hitters in a simulated game at Salt River Fields. Below, is video from that and a chat with Miller, from Fox Sports Arizona:
Friday was the biggest day to date in @ShelbyMiller19's rehab from Tommy John surgery: He pitched against live hitters, in an extended spring training game. pic.twitter.com/ugTjnq3Bih
— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) May 12, 2018
Zach Buchanan reports that Miller’s fellow starter Robbie Ray will be looking to start a throwing program shortly, while Jake Lamb is potentially going to go on rehab in the next couple of days. Probably not a bad idea, given how Steven Souza struggled, coming straight back to the majors without such an assignment. Finally, Randall Delgado and Braden Shipley have been playing catch, so probably some time before we see much progress from them.