Preview, #60: 6/2 vs. Mets

I mentioned in last night’s recap that I was concerned about how the bullpen would be, after a very heavy workload of late. Going back a week, there have been 31 relief appearances by Diamondbacks relievers: that averages 4.4 per game, one-third more than the National League average of 3.3. That feels extremely high, even with the team currently running a nine-man bullpen. It’s also a change: overall, the D-backs total number of relief appearances is below league average. Only four teams have fewer than Arizona’s 188. However, the outs per appearance (3.5) is fourth most, indicating the D-backs have leaned more on long relievers.

The chart below shows the number of pitches thrown by each relief in their outings.

In terms of who will be available today, it looks like Crichton, Chafin and Bradley are the most likely to be seen. Godley is clearly out, I doubt we’ll see Holland three days in a row, while Lopez and Hirano have both been very active. Each of those last two has appeared in five of the last seven games. Even though no individual outing has been that long - they’ve thrown a total of 68 and 57 pitches for the week respectively - that still adds up. They probably want to stay away from McFarland for one more day. Andriese is on the bubble; he didn’t pitch yesterday, but did throw both Thursday and Friday, tossing 23 pitches in the latter outing. A long start from Merrill Kelly this afternoon will go a long way to help.