Diamondbacks Game Preview #57: 6/7 @ Reds

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves:

• Recalled LHP Tyler Gilbert from the Taxi Squad.
• Optioned RHP Taylor Widener to Triple-A Reno following last night’s game.

The forecast isn’t too bad for tonight, with a 20% change of rain, according to Weather.com. Things are considerably more grim for tomorrow night’s contest, where the odds are up to 81%, with thunderstorms being predicted. The problem is, Thursday’s game is a day one, so if Wednesday night’s can’t be completed, it probably would have to be squeezed in on a mutual off-day down the road. And the problem there is, with the compacted season, those are relatively fewer than normal, and you also bump into the consecutive games limit. But both teams are idle on June 16 (just after the Reds play here), and that’d give each a 20-day streak without an off-day.

It’d work out well for the Reds, as they then start a series in Cincinnati on June 17. However, the D-backs are between series at Chase against the Reds and Twins, so flying across to Ohio is not ideal. The same, or worse, goes for June 27. August 4 might work: Arizona are coming back from Cleveland to Phoenix, while Cincinatti are going from Miami to Milwaukee that day. The last one is September 29, with the D-backs between Houston and San Francisco, and the Reds between Pittsburgh and Chicago. Of course, with neither team likely to be involved in the playoff picture, MLB might just be fine with it not happening. Maybe also hold off worrying rescheduling it, until the game is actually postponed, too?

But the whole process of MLB scheduling is an interesting one. For over two decades, it used to be crafted by a married couple, Henry and Holly Stephenson, Here’s a short ESPN documentary on them. They lost the contract for the 2005 season, and were replaced by the Sports Scheduling Group. According to their website, they ran with it for most seasons through 2017, though looking at the site, it may just not have been updated since 2017... It’s odd: I have not been able to find any recent information on who does it, or what the process is. I doubt it has changed much, so presumably something similar to what’s described in this article from 2012.