Can Zac Gallen Resume Stopper Role for D-backs Tonight ?

The Cleveland Guardians are in town for a three game series at Chase Field

The Diamondbacks (41-28) host the Cleveland Guardians (32-36) tonight for the first game of three, first pitch is at 6:40 P.M. Arizona Time, 9:40 P.M. EST

Despite being four games under .500, Cleveland is just 2.5 games back of the Twins in the AL Central.  The Guardians are in the middle of a very tough stretch of their schedule. They recently split a four game series with the Twins, took two of three from the Red Sox and two of three from the Astros. This past weekend however they dropped two of three to the Padres in San Diego.

The Diamondbacks are still in first place, 2.0 games up on the Dodgers despite  losing the final three games of a four game set with the Phillies. It's their third three game losing streak this year but they've not yet had a four game losing streak. Zac Gallen will try to keep that from happening tonight. 

Torey Lovullo gave the team an afternoon off today, allowing the players to come in a half hour later and only take batting practice in the cages. 

"I've asked a lot of them", Lovullo said. "They've been on edge, playing on edge. Every once in a while it's up to me to pull back. They'll continue to work.  I just felt like it was up to me to make everybody step back. We went with the old high school day today, the legion ball day. So you just come to the ballpark, get your work in, and get ready."

Pitching Matchup

As reported by Bernie Pleskoff, Guardians starter Triston McKenzie was a late scratch, due elbow  soreness. Former Diamondback prospect Touki Toussaint was called up to make the start. 

Toussaint has not pitched in the majors this year. He has a 4.06 ERA pitching for Columbus in the International League. Speaking with Pleskoff, he said the key for Toussaint is avoiding walks. He's issued 23 free passes in 38 innings in Triple-A. Now 27 years old, this is not a new issue, as walks have plagued him throughout his career. Toussaint has a 5.5 BB/9 rate in 170 major league innings. That and a high home run rate have resulted in a 5.34 career ERA. If the Diamondbacks are patient they should be able to put up some runs on him. 

Zac Gallen (7-2, 3.09 ERA) is coming off a poor outing his last time out against the Tigers. He managed to gut out 5. 2 innings despite giving up five runs on 10 hits, two walks and five strikeouts. The D-backs won that game 7-5.  Of some concern is the fact that Gallen's fastball velocity was down 1.5 MPH compared to his average. (92.1 vs 93.6 coming into that game)

While Lovullo said he was not concerned about the velocity loss,  blaming it mostly on the 11:30 A.M. start for the game in Detroit, eyes will be on the radar readings tonight. Since losing his 28 inning scoreless streak in Texas on May 2nd, over his last 8 starts Gallen has been less consistent than his usual form,  posting a 3.86 ERA. Some of that is bad luck with balls in play perhaps, as he's given up 54 hits in his last 46 innings, and has a BABIP against of .359.  League average BABIP is usually under .300, and Gallen's peripherals are still excellent during this stretch. He's struck out 42 batters, walked just 14 and given up only two homers. That adds up to a 2.94 FIP (Fielding independent pitching).  As long as he's not injured or continues to have low velocity, a rebound to better results should be expected soon. 

Lineups

MLB.com

Pavin Smith is back in the lead off spot for Arizona. With the exception of a couple of clutch hits, he's so far been unable to replicate his success in getting on base in that spot in the order like he did in 2021 and 2022.  This year he has just a .137 batting average and .228 OBP while batting first in the order. Asked prior to the game about the decision to continue to bat him leadoff Lovullo has the following to say:

I don't want to run from the success that he's had. I know that he's very capable of getting on a great run. He was on base a couple weeks ago I think four or five times. He's very equipped to see pitches, swing at strikes, and when he does that he's going to hand it off to the next guy.  We just have to get him to the point where he's laying off secondary stuff off the plate.  I'm hoping that it gets better, but I don't want to be blind. I don't want to force feed this. I'll make some adjustments if it doesn't get better. 

Pavin Smith Splits batting leadoff / Baseball Reference

Jose Ramirez remains the best player on the Guardians. The perrennial All Star and MVP candidate got off to a slow start this year.  As recently as June 6th he was batting just .260 with six homers and a .760 OPS. Over his last seven games however he is 15 for 30, .500 and with four homers and 10 RBI. That includes a three homer game on June 8th against the Red Sox. 

Josh Naylor bats cleanup and is the next best hitter on the team, with a .288/.333/.456,  120 OPS+.  Over his last six games he's 10-27, .370 with a double and seven RBI. 

While Cleveland's offense ranks poorly overall, 27th in MLB with 3.84 runs per game, they've raised their team batting average 10 points from .233 to .243 over their last 10 games by batting .292 with an .800 OPS and scored five runs per game in this stretch.

Rotation Note:

Lovullo confirmed that Ryne Nelson will make his next start and is not being removed from the rotation at this time.