With Zac Gallen going on the 15-day injured list for a hamstring strain, Slade Cecconi will have another opportunity to pitch out of the Diamondbacks rotation. Cecconi threw quality starts in his first two starts but has struggled in his last four appearances. In three of them, he’s allowed six runs. Most of them stem from his inability to stop the opposing team’s offensive momentum from the second and third time he sees a lineup.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!As a starting pitcher, he’s held opposing hitters to a .023/.067/.023 slash when facing a lineup the first time through. However, that jumps to .385/.444/.795 the second time through the lineup. His strikeout rate drops by more than half when the lineup turns over, from 28.9% to 13.3%. This is a problem that’s haunted Cecconi this season.
With at least two, possibly three more starts, he’ll have a chance to show where he’s improved. His only start since getting sent down to Reno on May 22 was seven scoreless innings with a season-high nine strikeouts on Sunday. One start typically isn’t enough to showcase much improvement, but Cecconi will have to figure it out at the major league level out of necessity.
Opposing Cecconi will be left-hander Sean Manaea. The well-traveled lefty has pitched well with the Mets, going 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA/3.46 FIP. New York’s rotation has been disappointing this season, with only Manaea and Luis Severino providing consistent starts for them.
However, advanced metrics predict some regression, as he has a 4.20 xERA and a 4.50 xFIP. xERA takes into account for the quality of contact for opposing hitters, along with strikeout and walk rates. xFIP is like FIP, except it normalized the home run per fly ball rate for pitchers to the league average. His HR/FB rate sits at 4.5%, well below the MLB average of 10.8%. On top of that, his 21.7% strikeout rate and his 10.1% walk rate are also worse than the MLB averages of 22.4% and 8.7%.
It will be interesting to see if the Diamondbacks offense, which showed some encouraging signs Friday night, can have some success against Manaea. First pitch will be at 1:10 P.M. MST.
Starting Lineups
Game Notes
Diamondbacks
- Center fielder Corbin Carroll has recorded multi-hit games in two of his last three starts. In total, he has collected five hits as his average entering play has jumped to .197.
- Geraldo Perdomo went 0-for-4 in his first game back at the complex, striking out three times and driving in a run on a groundout.
- Arizona is 6-14 when facing a left-handed starter in 2024
- Gabriel Moreno is hitting .184 with no extra-base hits and 12 strikeouts in his past 12 games.
- Slade Cecconi has never pitched against the Mets before in his career
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was a late scratch due to experiencing flu-like symptoms, which explains Jake McCarthy’s start against the lefty.
Mets
- The Mets will be retiring Darryl Strawberry’s No. 18 before the game. Strawberry was a key player on the 1986 World Series winning squad, hitting .263 with 252 home runs and a .878 OPS in eight seasons in New York. The Mets have turned their home run apple into a strawberry.
- Francisco Lindor has been a thorn in the Diamondbacks’ side this series, going 6-for-8 with a double, home run, three RBI, and scored two runs. He is a lifetime .385 hitter, with seven doubles, three triples, and six home runs in 24 games against Arizona. Lindor enters this game with a 10-game hitting streak, in which he’s batting .386 with five doubles, two home runs, and a 1.062 OPS.
- Sean Manaea is 4-2 with a 3.42 ERA in 11 appearances (8 starts) against the Diamondbacks in his career. Much of that success came in his one season with San Diego, when he made five starts and pitched to a 3.00 ERA in 30 innings.
Bullpen Situations
Diamondbacks
Logan Allen is out after throwing four innings of relief on Friday. Justin Martinez threw three innings on Thursday, so his availability is in the air. Brandon Hughes pitched Thursday and was warming up in the bullpen Friday. The rest of the relief corps should be fully gassed up for this game, although they will need at least five innings from Cecconi.
Mets
Jake Diekman and Reed Garrett have pitched in three of the last four days, which likely means they’re unavailable to pitch for the Mets. Sean Reid-Foley has pitched in two of the last three days, with a total of 48 pitches thrown. The rest of their bullpen should be available.
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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
