Diamondbacks Gameday Thread, #10: 4/9 vs. Dodgers

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves:

• Selected RHP Peter Solomon from Triple-A Reno.
• Acquired RHP José Ruiz from the White Sox for cash considerations.
• Placed RHP Zach Davies (strained left oblique) on the 15-day injured list.
• Transferred RHP Mark Melancon (strained right shoulder) to the 60-day injured list.
• Transferred RHP Cole Sulser (strained right shoulder) to the 60-day injured list.

The arrival of an arm to replace Davies was entirely as expected, with Zach likely to be out of action for some time. Bringing up an extra bullpen arm makes sense, as the team won't need a starter to replace Davies for a few days. The choice of Solomon is interesting. The fact he started for Reno might suggest he will replace Jameson as long relief man in the bullpen, with Drey moving into the rotation. That would makes sense, on the basis that Jameson was the last cut this spring from the rotation. Jameson has a nice ERA in relief so far, but his FIP is several runs higher. Small sample size for both though. We'll see how the team decides to play it.

The arrival (to the franchise, if not the roster yet) of Ruiz is more unexpected. He had got off to a terrible start: so bad, the team's official release simply said, “Made 4 relief appearances for the White Sox.” Let me fill in the blanks for them. 3⅔ innings pitched, nine earned runs on eight hits and four walks and three K's for a chunky 22.09 ERA. Three of the hits were home runs - so he'll fit right into our homer prone bullpen - and batters hit .421 off him. He wasn't nearly as bad in 2022, with a 4.60 ERA across 60.2 innings, but this feels like a depth move. For now, I think the team has better bullpen options available.

Meanwhile, back at Chase Field, the Diamondbacks will seek to take three of four from the Dodgers, and go above them in the NL West standings. Today feels very much like house money, with a split of the series already in the bag. If you'd told me before Opening Day that Arizona would get through this challenging first trio of series undefeated, I'd have been all over that. Such is where we sit, and there's a chance to do even better. It feels like a long time since the D-backs have had a winning record ten games into the season. It's five years: here's where the team has sat at that stage in the campaign:

• 2018: 8-2
• 2019: 5-5
• 2020: 3-7
• 2021: 4-6
• 2022: 3-7
• 2023: 6-4 or 5-5

Things don't get much easier next week, with the hot Milwaukee Brewers arriving, but you have to be encouraged by the exciting and disruptive way our young team has faced the challenges so far. Winning against the reigning division champions would certainly be making a statement.