Game #42 Preview: Diamondbacks visit the Oakland A's

Corbin Carroll and the rest of the D-backs hitters get to take cuts against MLB's worst pitching staff this week

The  wild card leading Diamondbacks (23-18) travel to Oakland for the first of three games against the last place A's, (9-33). Game time tonight is 6:40 P.M., MST/PST

The A's have a historically bad pitching staff to date. Their 7.27 team ERA is the worst of any team in MLB history since 1901 through their first 42 games.  The next highest team ERA through 42 games came from the 1996 Detroit Tigers who had a 6.93 ERA.  The A's .214 win % is also among he worst all time through 42 games, with only five teams winning games at a lower rate.

The A's walk the most batters, strikeout the fewest, give up the most hits and homers, have committed the most errors, and rank last in defensive runs saved. As a team they're having an epic and historical failure at run prevention. 

The failures are not only on the field of course. The A's have stripped down their roster and are preparing to move from Oakland to Las Vegas.  However as reported by FanNation Inside the A's Jason Burke, the numbers in the new stadium deal announced today with Bally are not quite adding up. The fiasco that has become this once proud franchise with some of the best and most die hard fans in MLB is a travesty.  In the meantime, the games must go on. So here is your preview of tonight's game.

Pitching Matchup

Jack Sommers

Merrill Kelly is coming off a no-decision in his last outing against the Marlins. He went six innings giving up four runs, with a walk and six strikeouts. The big blow was a three-run homer by Jesús Sánchez spoiling what was an otherwise good outing.  Kelly's peripherals aren't as great as they could be, due to some bouts with wildness and walks in his earlier starts, but he appears to have gotten that under control. 

34-year-old Drew Rucinski is pitching in the majors for the first time since 2018. He spent four years in Korea with a lot of success, but his return to the USA has not gone smoothly, as evidenced by the numbers above. His average fastball velocity is only 89 MPH. He throws both a four-seam and a two-seam, and uses his slider a lot but so far with no good effect, as teams are hitting .353 with a .647 slug against that pitch. 

Lineups

MLB.com

Over the last seven days the two hottest hitters for the Diamondbacks have been Dominic Fletcher (9-21, .429, 2 HR, 11 RBI) and Gabriel Moreno (8-18, .444). Moreno also hit into three double plays and has already hit into seven this season. Corbin Carroll and Geraldo Perdomo are slumping over the past week. Carroll went 2-22, .091 and Perdomo went 1-14, .071. Rucinski is a ground ball pitcher and Carroll has hit these types of pitchers well. Look for him to get back on track this week. 

As bad as the A's pitching has been, they do have a major league caliber lineup. Keeping in mind RingCentral Coliseum is an extreme pitcher's park, their team 99 OPS+ is just about league average.  (OPS+ is Park and league adjusted OPS, 100 = average, higher is better).

DH Brent Rooker is batting .308 with 11 homers and a 1.069 OPS. Both his OPS and 202 OPS+ lead the American League, and he's in a three-way tie for the lead in homers as well.  Second baseman Jordan Diaz had three homers this past week while going 6-23, .261.

Bullpens

The A's bullpen is in shambles with a 7.01 ERA for the season and it's been even worse the past week, as they posted a 8.87 bullpen ERA in 23.1 innings. The only two relievers that have been effective this season are right-hander Zach Jackson, (2.60 ERA  in 17.1 IP) and left-hander Richard Lovelady, (1.86 ERA in 9.2 IP).  Neither of them worked the last two games, so it's likely the D-backs see them tonight. Shintaro Fujinami,  who the D-backs were rumored to be interested in during the off season, failed miserably as a starter. He was moved to the bullpen and did well last week, throwing three scoreless innings in two outings. Oakland had also signed Jeurys Familia after he was released by the Diamondbacks towards the end of Spring Training.  After posting a 6.39 ERA in 14 games the A's released him on May 6th. 

Over the past week, the much maligned D-backs bullpen has been great, posting a 2.57 ERA and a 2.01 FIP in 21 innings of work. They struck out 18, walked just two, and didn't allow a homer.  Right handers Miguel Castro (19) Scott McGough (19) and Jose Ruiz (29) all had to throw a lot of pitches yesterday.  Kevin Ginkel has not pitched since throwing 34 pitches on May 9th.  All three lefties, Andrew Chafin, Kyle Nelson and Anthony Miesiewicz had the day off yesterday, although Torey Lovullo said Chafin was available if needed.