Diamondbacks at Rockies Sunday April 30th Game Preview

D-backs go for the sweep behind Ryne Nelson and with Ketel Marte back in the lineup

The Diamondbacks and Rockies play the series finale today in Coors field at 12:10 P.M. MST.  Arizona took the first two games 9-1 and 11-4 and now have a 16-12 record. They maintain a one game lead over the Dodgers and two games over the Padres in the NL West.  The Rockies (8-20) have already surpassed their highest loss total for the first month of the season. Their .286 win percentage is tied with 2005 for the worse in franchise history. That year they only played 21 games in April due to multiple rainouts, going 6-15.

As reported earlier this morning, the D-backs are calling up outfielder Dominic Fletcher and optioning left-hand reliever Anthony Misiewicz. Corbin Carroll is day to day with a left knee contusion suffered in last night's game. 

Pitching Matchup

Jack Sommers

Ryne Nelson is coming off a start against the Royals in which he got knocked around for 11 hits in five innings, giving up four runs in a 5-4 loss. He didn't walk a batter but was predictable in the zone. In his previous outing against the Padres he also went five innings, giving up five runs on three hits, four walks and two homers.  He took the no decision in that game, but the team lost 7-5.

He had started the year with three pretty decent outings, including back to back quality starts on April 9th and 15th.  Coors Field is not an easy place to get turned around but the team will hope for five plus solid innings similar to what Tommy Henry gave them last night. 

Nelson's fastball is about one mile per hour slower than it was last year and he's using his curveball less because he hasn't had a feel for it, either not landing for strikes or leaving it up. He's been reliant on his slider and cutter for secondary pitches. The fastball usage has been about 54%, compared to 70% in hius three major league starts last year.  He'll need to locate well today as the ball doesn't break as much in Coors field. 

Austin Gomber rebounded from a disaster outing against the Pirates (nine runs in two innings) by throwing five shutout innings against the Guardians in Cleveland in his most recent start, getting his first win of the season. In two home starts at Coors field however he's now given up 14 runs in 6.2 innings. In his previous seasons he handled pitching at Coors quite well, posting a 3.93 home ERA in 165 innings heading into 2023. 

The tall lefty has a four pitch mix, four seam, change up, slider and curveball. His fastball only averages 90.4 MPH, down slightly from 91 last year. In his first couple of seasons his changeup has been his best pitch but his fastball has been hit hard. While still his best pitch, he's not having as much success with the change up this year, making it difficult to keep hitters off his fastball

Lineups

With Carroll day to day that leaves Lourdes Gurriel Jr and Pavin Smith to patrol the corners in the vast expanses of the Coors field outfield. Alek Thomas will likely need to cover plenty of ground today.  Fletcher may be available as a late inning replacement as he had a locker this morning in the clubhouse. Quite a few D-backs hitters have had success against Gomber, led by Ketel Marte who is 6-11 with two homers.   Nelson has never faced the Rockies and the only hitter in their lineup who has faced him before is Jurickson Profar, who is 3-6 with two doubles against Nelson. 

Baseball Reference