Game #44 Preview: Ryne Nelson Needs to Give Length Today

A tired bullpen seeks relief after an extra inning game last night

The Diamondbacks and A's played a 12 inning game last night, with the A's coming out on top 9-8. They have a quick turnaround today for the rubber match of the three game series, game time is 12:37 P.M. MST/PST

Roster Moves

Due to the length of last night's game and the way the Diamondbacks bullpen has been taxed of late, they  optioned slumping outfielder Alek Thomas and called up right hand reliever Luis Frias.  Below is a chart showing the workload and projected availability of the relievers on the roster prior to the above moves. (Green is available, Yellow is use with caution, and black is unavailable). 

Jack Sommers

These availability projection are not officially from the team as they never comment on specific reliever availability prior to a game due to competitive reasons, but we can infer the obvious from the workload patterns and based on track record.  Frias last pitched on May 13th, throwing just seven pitches. Between him and Miguel Castro and Anthony Misiewicz they should be able to piece together enough outs, provided Ryne Nelson can give them enough length. 

Starting Pitcher Matchup

Jack Sommers

The Diamondbacks will hope for Nelson to get deeper into today's game than he has been lately. After back to back quality starts on April 9th and 15th, Nelson has not made it past the 5th inning in any of his last five starts, posting a 7.99 ERA over that span.  He's only walked six batters in those starts, but has given up 37 hits in his last 24 innings, including five homers. Command and location of both the fastball and his breaking pitches need to improve, as he's often pitching from behind in the count and then getting hit hard when he comes into the zone. Expect manager Torey Lovullo to try to push Nelson into the 6th inning today. 

Luis Medina is a 24 year old rookie making his third major league start. He is from the Dominican Republic and was originally signed by the Yankees. Traded at the deadline last year for Frankie Montas, Medina throws a high 90's four seam fastball 50% of the time. He uses three secondary pitches, including a curveball, slider and changeup. In his minor league career he was always a high walks pitcher, but so far he's only walked three batters and struck out in 11 innings at the major league level. He's given up three homers and 13 hits overall though. 

Lineups

MLB.com

With Thomas being optioned out it appears that Dominic Fletcher will get the bulk of the playing time in centerfield for now. Corbin Carroll will play right and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. will play left. Pavin Smith is the fourth outfielder and can spell on the corners. 

Gurriel, who homered again yesterday, is the the hottest hitter in the National League for the month of May, batting .405/.519/.929. for an astounding  1.448 OPS, which is more than 200 points higher than the next best hitter for the month. He has six homers and driven in 12 runs in 12 games. 

Ketel Marte gets a day off today, with Josh Rojas shifting over to second base. Jose Herrera will be behind the plate, as he usually is for day games.