Diamondbacks Begin Four Game Series with Mets at Citi Field

Zach Davies will try once again to find consistency as the D-backs bats try to find a way to score off a left-hand starter.

The Diamondbacks continue their eight game road trip with four games in Citi Field against the Mets, first pitch is 4:10 P.M. MST, 7:10 EST. Arizona is coming off a 3-1 series victory against the Chicago Cubs, but they dropped the series finale 5-2 on Sunday.  The Mets avoided a three game series sweep at the hands of the Twins with a 2-0 victory Sunday.

The Mets have had a well documented disaster of a season.  After spending a ludicrous amount of money in the off season, their season melted down almost right from the start and they were sellers at the trade deadline. They currently sit just 1.5 games ahead of the last place Nationals with a 65-77 record.  They're 5-5 in their last 10 games and 9-11 in their last 20, so they've actually been playing somewhat better. They are also 35-33 at home and of course put a whooping on the Diamondbacks in July, outscoring them 18-6 in a three game sweep. 

The D-backs are 75-69 and hold a half game lead over the 74-69 Miami Marlins for the 3rd NL Wild card position. The D-backs are 6-4 in their last 10 games and 12-8 in their last 20. 

ROSTER MOVE

Gabriel Moreno has been placed on the paternity list and Jose Herrera has been called up. Moreno will be out at least three games. 

Pitching Matchup

Jack Sommers

Zach Davies had a terrible outing on September 6th, giving up five runs to the Rockies in just three innings. The D-backs came back and scored 12 runs to defeat the Rockies in that game, but it was a big step backwards for Davies after two good starts seemingly had him heading in the right direction.  Davies last outing against the Mets was on July 4th was not a good game either. He gave up four runs in 5.2 innings, with two homers among his five hits allowed.  The one positive for Davies is the team is 7-8 in his starts and he has shown he's still capable of having a good start here and there.

Jose Quintana signed a two year, $26 million contract with the Mets this past off season but missed the first half season with a rib stress fracture that required surgery to remove a lesion. Since returning on July 20th he's actually been one of the best pitchers in the NL, despite his 2-5 record. Over his last two starts, 13 innings pitched  he's allowed just one run.  

Velocity has never been Quintana's strong point, as he averages just over 90 MPH with both his sinker and four seam fastballs. He's got a great curveball and solid change up. His ground ball rate is down 6% and his fly ball rate is up 6% but he's give up just one homer among the 60 fly balls allowed. That's not a sustainable rate, so perhaps the D-backs will be beneficiaries of regression to the mean. 

Lineups

Jack Sommers

Ketel Marte and Jordan Lawlar are both back in the lineup after sitting out yesterday with bone bruises, (knee for Marte and knuckle for Lawlar). The Diamondbacks have struggled all year against left-hand pitching, and it's been worse since the All-Star break.  Their .678 OPS against LHP since July 14th ranks 25th in MLB. Evan Longoria and Emmanuel Rivera in particular have been a problem as they are two right handed bats that always enter the lineup together against a lefty, but have just .392 and .513 OPS respectively over that time span. The team desperately needs both of them to step up into their roles against left hand pitching. 

Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor have both hit Zach Davies hard in limited head to head plate appearances. Lindor is 2-6, with two homers and Nimmo is 4-8 with two doubles, a triple, and a homer.  They're both hot of late as well,  Lindor is 7-21,  with 3 doubles and a homer in his last five games.  Nimmo is 6-23, with three homers in his last five. Pete Alonso has 43 homers and 103 RBI despite a .224 batting average. 

Bullpens

The D-backs should have a full bullpen contingent available as they got six innings from Pfaadt yesterday and only Joe Mantiply and Scott McGough had to pitch, each throwing 13 pitches. 

The Mets had to use four relievers yesterday, including co-closer Adam Ottavino and Brooks Raley. Neither of them had worked the three days prior however so going on back-to-back nights should not be an issue.  If the D-backs can get in the Mets bullpen early tonight somehow, that could pay dividends later in the series.