Right-hander Brandon Pfaadt appears to be hitting his stride in his second year in the Diamondbacks rotation. He’s logged a quality start in each of his last four outings, providing some stability to a rotation besieged by injuries and inconsistency. While it hasn’t reflected on his personal record, with no wins to his name, the team has gone 2-2 in those starts.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!They’ll need Pfaadt to continue this trend against a very tough Dodgers lineup. He has yet to clear five innings in a start vs. Los Angeles, combining for 11 runs on 8 2/3 innings. He got his revenge in the postseason when he pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings in a clinching Game 3 of the National League Division series.
He’ll need excellent command of his four-seamer, sinker, and sweeper to keep them guessing. Those three pitches have been very effective for Pfaadt in 2024, holding opposing hitters to a .231 average and a .387 slugging percentage. The results are close to matching the expected stats calculated off the batted ball data, with a .225 xBA and a .359 xSLG.
Opposing Pfaadt will be right-hander Gavin Stone. Stone has not faced the Diamondbacks in a regular season game, although Arizona got a taste of his potential in a spring game on March 10th. His fastball averages just below 95 MPH, but has a quality mix of secondary stuff that can baffle hitters. The changeup is his go-to out pitch, with a whiff rate of 38.8% and opposing batters hitting .156 against it. For Arizona, the plan will be to stay aggressive to the fastball early in the count and not let him get to that changeup or slider.
Starting Lineups
Game Notes
Diamondbacks
- Second baseman Ketel Marte extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a first-inning single. The streak is tied for the fifth longest in franchise history. Next up is Danny Bautista, who had a 21-game hitting streak in 2004.
- Since May 7, shortstop Kevin Newman has been batting .405 (17-for-42) with six doubles and a triple. He went 3-for-4 with a double, RBI, and a run scored in Monday’s loss to the Dodgers.
- The Diamondbacks have struggled to beat good teams in 2024, posting a 6-16 record against teams over .500.
Dodgers
- The Dodgers have five players in the top 17 in the National League for RBI: Teoscar Hernández (37), Shohei Ohtani (33), Will Smith (31), Freddie Freeman (29), and Mookie Betts (29). Those five players have more RBI on everyone on the Diamondbacks roster except for Christian Walker’s 30.
- The Dodgers are off to their seventh best start with 33 wins in 50 games since moving to Los Angeles. Their +87 run differential also leads all of Major League Baseball.
- The Dodgers bullpen has the best ERA since April 21, posting a 1.45 mark. Their starting pitchers have been equally as effective, as their 2.59 ERA is also the best in MLB over that stretch.
Bullpen Situation
Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks bullpen is in decent shape for this game, with just reliever Bryce Jarvis unavailable after pitching two scoreless innings. He’s thrown 57 pitches over the last three days. The rest of the bullpen should be good to go for this game. Left-hander Joe Mantiply will be one to watch, pitching twice in the last three games. He threw only a total of 13 pitches in those two games.
Dodgers
Anthony Banda threw on back-to-back days and Daniel Hudson has pitched in three of the last four days, so expect both former Diamondbacks to be out for this game. However, the rest of their bullpen should be good to go for this game thanks to a lengthy start from Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
