Diamondbacks Gameday Thread, #45: 5/19 @ Pirates

It doesn’t look like there will be any roster moves by the D-backs ahead of this series in Pittsburgh. Seems the team is going to stick with the current arms, having added Luis Frias at the expense of Alek Thomas before the finale in Reno. Didn’t exactly work out too well, did it, though I guess the D-backs prevailed in the end. The off-day yesterday should have helped recharge some arms, but I figure it would be nice to have a clue as to who might or might not be available out of the bullpen. So as a regular feature of Gameday Threads going forward, there will be a chart which shows the number of pitches thrown by each member of the current bullpen over the previous five days. Here’s today’s entry.

Interesting to note that Anthony Misiewicz hasn’t pitched since May 13. He appeared in back-to-back games before that, after coming up to replace Joe Mantiply on May 12. He threw 15 and 18 pitches in those two outings, but hasn’t been seen since. Given how much it felt like the bullpen was wheezing in the Oakland series, it’s a bit of a surprise the team opted to make Scott McGough throw nearly fifty pitches instead. Not sure how long it’ll be before McGough has recovered, but I imagine the team will want to stay away from him for another day. But, hey: it’s a Zac Gallen start, so if the bullpen needs to record more than six outs tonight, I’m going to be burning things down in SnakePit Towers.

As Justin mentioned in the series preview, the Pirates have cooled off considerably after starting the season 20-8. They have not yet won a series in May, and as a result have dropped out of first place in the NL Central. Interestingly, their last four games have alternated shutouts and being shutout: if that pattern continues, Pittsburgh are not going to score of Gallen and the D-backs tonight. Conversely, the D-backs have delivered free tacos* in five of the last six contests, so we’ll see if that keeps up. Tonight’s starter for the Pirates, Johan Oviedo has been a bit up and down. Even the Nationals torched him for 7 ER in 2.1 IP, but last time out, he held the Orioles to one run over five innings, though still walked five.