Diamondbacks Gameday Thread, #68: 6/14 vs. Phillies

Yeah, not listing Josh Rojas in the relievers chart. Sue me. :) On the plus side, I guess it was impressive we only burned two relievers, considering that designated long-man Drey Jameson was unavailable, after having worked the night before. But I will confess to being a bit disturbed to see Joe Mantiply, making his first appearance back, throwing 48 pitches. It’s not quite a career high, as he did throw 52 in the second game of a double-header back in 2019 with the Yankees. But it’s certainly an interesting use of him. It’s the 8th relief outing of 48+ pitches this year by Arizona. Peter Solomon had three, Jameson a pair, plus one each from Mantiply, Luis Frias and, oddly, Scott McGough covering extras in Oakland.

Speaking of people coming off the IL and being thrown right back into the thick of things, Carson Kelly makes his third consecutive start. Fans are not happy. Corbin Carroll is also not in the line-up - according to Torey, it’s a “normal rest day”, but I suspect it’s perhaps a “mental break” after his decision to pick up his cap cost Arizona a run last night. Ketel Marte is also out of the line-up. Per Nick Piecoro, Marte “is dealing with lower back tightness after feeling discomfort sliding home in the first inning on Monday night. He expects to be available off the bench tonight and possibly back in the lineup tomorrow.” Still, having him and Carroll missing on the same night is definitely a blow.

More important though, is probably Merrill Kelly righting the ship, after the shaky starting pitching we’ve had of late. Since Kelly’s last start, nobody has completed six innings, and the most recent trio of outings by Zac Gallen, Tommy Henry and Zach Davies were more or less total disasters. They combined to allow 13 earned runs over 13.1 innings, on 25 hits and 6 walks. Somehow, the D-backs won two of those three games, but it’s not a recipe for long-term success. Kelly’s ERA of 2.92 is now better than Gallen’s 3.09, though Zac still has a big advantage in FIP (3.74 vs. 2.40). And unless Kelly pitches eight innings tonight, Gallen will also have more IP.