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And so, the final day of the 2019 regular season dawns. As is now usual, all games will be starting at the same time - hence this slightly earlier than normal Sunday first pitch for the D-backs. Though there isn’t much left to be decided. Home-field advantage in the AL wild-card game between the Rays and A’s, and of course, which of the Brewers and Cardinals will win the NL Central, and which will play in the wild-card game. Milwaukee almost pulled level with St. Louis last night, but couldn’t hold the lead against Colorado. They’ll now have to hope for help from the Cubs to beat the Cardinals, and actually get the job done themselves versus the Rockies. Both teams appear to be backing into the post-season.
Meanwhile, in Arizona, we will see Taijuan Walker take the mound for the D-backs, in his first appearance in almost 18 months. I think that’s the longest gap between outings for an Arizona pitcher since Daniel Hudson’s return from his double Tommy John recovery? It will be little more than a token gesture, scheduled for one inning. But much like Luke Weaver’s appearance, it will hopefully go smoothly, with no subsequent issues, and give Taijuan a good feeling to take into the off-season. To make room on the 40-man roster, the team transferred David Peralta to the 60-day DL, though at this point, it’s little more than a bureaucratic necessity.
Be nice if Christian Walker was to get another home-run this afternoon, and give him a nice round thirty for the season. That would certainly be a great milestone for him to reach. Nick Ahmed also needs one, to reach twenty HR, and Eduardo Escobar needs to drive in two runs, to reach 120 RBI. That would tie him with Paul Goldschmidt’s 2017 campaign, for fourth-best all time in a single season by a Diamondback. On the pitching side, if Andrew Chafin gets into the game, it’ll be his 77th appearance. It’ll tie his figure from last year, which is =5th in Arizona history. He’s currently tied for most appearances in the majors over the last two years, with... Well, here’s a name from the past: Yusmeiro Petit!
azdbacksfanindc will be bringing you the final guest recap of the season after this one, so stick around for that, as we send the 2019 season off in the appropriate fashion.