Zac Gallen Leads the D-backs' Charge into Cleveland to Face Guardians

The Diamondbacks will try to stay hot behind their ace starting pitcher while the offense looks to keep rolling.

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen (23) delivers a pitch on July 9, 2024 at Chase Field in Phoenix. / Owen Ziliak/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Arizona Diamondbacks (60-52) are in Cleveland to take on the Guardians (67-44) for a three game series starting Monday night.

The Guardians, who have the best record in all of MLB, are in first place in the AL Central, holding a 4.5 game lead over the Minnesota Twins. They're especially tough at home, with a 35-17 record. They're coming off a four game series split with the Baltimore Orioles, but dropped the final two games over the weekend.

The D-backs are 8-2 in their last ten games and 21-9 in their last 30 since June 29th. That is the best record in MLB in that span. Arizona is 29-27 on the road and coming off a hard fought, 2-1 series victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates. That included a come from behind victory in a game started by Paul Skenes.

The D-backs are five games back of the Dodgers in the NL West, but hold a 1.5 game lead over the New York Mets for the third NL Wild Card spot.

OFFENSE

Note: Progressive Field has typically been considered a neutral ballpark, favoring neither hitters nor pitchers. But in 2024 the park has played extremely homer friendly, boasting a111 HR Park factor at Statcast.

The D-backs are second in MLB with 5.13 runs scored per game, trailing only the New York Yankees (5.16). Their team OPS of .754 ranks 6th. The Guardians rank 11th with 4.67 runs per game, and 13th with a .714 team OPS.

The gap narrows somewhat when looking at D-backs road and Guardians home splits however. Arizona scores 5.01 runs on the road while posting a .743 OPS. Cleveland scores 4.88 runs per game at home with a .729 OPS.

The Guardians have a top-heavy lineup led by six-time All-Star Jose Ramirez who is batting .277 with 29 homers, 93 RBI, and a 140 OPS+. Steven Kwan was batting .352 heading into the All-Star Break, but just .246 since. His season line is still an excellent .333/.392/.482, good for a 145 OPS+.

The Guardians lineup also skews heavily left-handed. First baseman Josh Naylor is batting .250 with 24 homers and a 126 OPS+. Right-handed DH David Fry provides some balance however, batting .279/.382/.445, 133 OPS+.

The Diamondbacks are led by National League MVP candidate Ketel Marte. The All-Star second baseman is batting an even .300 with 27 homers and a .919 OPS. He's played Gold Glove caliber second base, racking up +11 defensive runs saved.

The Diamondbacks feature a balanced attack, with eight of their nine starters posting an OPS+ of 100 or higher. OPS+ measures OPS against league average and adjusted for ballpark factors. It's set to a scale where 100 = league average. The higher the better. The D-backs have a team 112 OPS+. Joc Pederson (161) leads the team, just ahead of Marte's 156. Table link.

Starting Pitching Matchups

Monday, August 5th 3:40 P.M. MST

Zac Gallen RHP, 9-5 3.56 ERA, 3.37 FIP in 94 IP

Gallen is coming off a solid start against the Nationals, going six innings and allowing one run on six hits. He's gotten the win in three straight starts, giving up just four runs in 17 innings. The D-backs pen was worked hard in the Pittsburgh series. It's essential that Gallen gets deep into this game, given that Tuesday's starter, Eduardo Rodriguez, will be on a pitch count.

Logan T. Allen LHP, 8-4, 5.67 ERA, 5.45 FIP in 87 IP

Allen's last MLB start came on July 6th. He was demoted to Triple-A Columbus after a spate of poor starts. He's being recalled to fill in for the injured Tanner Bibee who is dealing with shoulder soreness. Allen has been hit hard in the majors this year, giving up 103 hits including 18 homers in just 87 innings.

Tuesday, August 6th, 3:40 P.M. MST

Eduardo Rodriguez LHP

Rodriguez is making his first start with the Diamondbacks this year. He has missed the entire season so far with a left lat strain. Signed during the off season to a four year $80 million contract, Rodriguez was expected to help solidify the Diamondbacks rotation.

Rodriguez pitched in a simulation game last week, throwing four innings and roughly 60 pitches. He has not thrown in a minor league rehab game. Expect Rodriguez to be limited to five innings and 75 to 80 pitches maximum.

Ben Lively RHP, 10-6, 3.42 ERA, 4.50 FIP in 105 IP

Lively is coming off two solid victories against tough lineups. He went six innings, allowing two runs to the Orioles on August 1st, and went six innings giving up one run against the Phillies on July 26th. Lively can give up the long ball at times, having allowed 18 of them this year. But only six of those have come at home.

Wednesday August 7th, 10:10 A.M. MST

Brandon Pfaadt RHP, 5-6, 3.97 ERA, 3.54 FIP in 131 IP

Pfaadt has been a stalwart for the Diamondbacks, leading the team in starts, innings and quality starts in a year the team has suffered multiple injuries in their starting rotation. He has been somewhat prone to the big inning at times and may be tiring a bit. Pfaadt has allowed eight runs in his last 11 innings that have included 14 hits and just seven strikeouts.

Carlos Carrasco RHP, 3-9, 5.53 ERA, 4.79 FIP in 99 IP

The 37-year-old veteran may be nearing the end. Other than providing innings, he simply has not pitched well this year. Over his last five starts he's not even giving them innings, throwing just 23.1, while posting a 6.56 ERA.

Bullpens

The strength of the Guardians this year has been their MLB-best bullpen. Not only do they lead the league with a 2.60 reliever ERA, but they seldom blow a lead. Closer Emmanuel Clase has a 0.70 ERA and 33 saves.

Their primary setup men boast microscopic ERA as well. Cade Smith (1.86), Hunter Gaddis (1.38), and lefty Tim Herrin (1.83) simply don't allow runs. Pedro Avila is solid too, with a 3.04 ERA.

The Diamondbacks have a 4.30 reliever ERA, 23rd in MLB. The bullpen has been in disarray since early July when Paul Sewald started slumping. He was recently demoted from the closer's role and the team is trying to go with a matchups based committee. It's worked out in their first two save chances on Friday and Sunday, but shakily.

For now it looks like Ryan Thompson and lefty A.J. Puk will share the load in the ninth inning, depending on the matchup. But don't be surprised if any of Justin Martinez, Kevin Ginkel, Dylan Floro, or even Joe Mantiply pitch the ninth inning at some point.