Diamondbacks Game Preview #49: 5/29 vs. Dodgers

Just a short preview today. Jack has got the day off, and I surfaced late this morning. Mrs. SnakePit not having got home from her Rocky Horror event until about 2 am, so we felt like a lie-in was deserved. It promises to be a relaxed kinda day, though there will perhaps need to be some foraging for food going on later: most likely in the frozen-food section at Fry’s. I have not yet had a confirmation from the scheduled guest recapper for this afternoon’s game, so am on standby there. Can’t say I would particularly blame them, given the D-backs come into this one, having lost their last seven games against Los Angeles in a row. I feel fortunate that yesterday’s game was somewhat competitive.

The last time we saw Zach Davies, he was hobbling off the mound, having taken a screaming come-backer off his shin, which pole-axed him. At the time it happened, my first reaction was that a spell on the injured list seemed almost inevitable. But, here we are, five days later, and Zach is ready to take his regularly scheduled turn in the rotation. That’s kinda impressive. What’s less impressive have been Davies’s results recently. Over his last three starts, covering a total of 13.1 innings, Zach has an ERA of 8.10, having allowed 19 hits, including four home-runs, with a batting average against of .339. Two came against the Cubs and Royals, not exactly top-tier clubs, though the only L there came against the Dodgers.

The current Dodgers’ roster have a combined slash of .279/.330/.424 for a .754 OPS against Davies, which is fairly marginal. He hasn’t got an out past the fourth inning in either of the two starts against them this year, so if that is sustained, the bullpen will be in for another long session. LA’s starter, Tyler Anderson, got the W against the D-backs last time he faced us, in Los Angeles, tossing seven innings of two-run ball. Collectively though, Arizona has a line of .283/.324/.500 for an .824 OPS. However, that is boosted by the contribution of Nick Ahmed’s 1.198 OPS against Anderson. In smaller sample sizes, Jordan Luplow and Daulton Varsho have also done well, but neither starts - health issues are presumably at play there.