Geraldo Perdomo Takes a Turn at Leadoff for Diamondbacks

Tommy Henry to match up with Shane Bieber against the Guardians

The Diamondbacks (42-28) will host the Cleveland Guardians (32-37) for game two of three at Chase Field tonight. It's a later start than usual for a Saturday game, first pitch is 7:10 P.M. MST. 

Arizona took the series opener last night 5-1 behind stellar pitching from Zac Gallen, snapping a three game losing streak.  Tonight the Guardians sent their ace, Shane Bieber to the mound to face left-hander Tommy Henry for the D-backs. 

Lineups

MLB.com

Geraldo Perdomo has been hitting and getting on base, having long at bats, and utilizing his best tool, plate discipline, all year long. Perdomo leads the team in pitches per plate appearance with 4.39, against a league average 3.91. His .404 On Base Percentage is the best on the team and has only been under .400 for 12 out of the 55 games he's played. His .302 batting average is second on the team.  He's been doing all this mostly from either the 8th the 9th spot in the order. This is only the fourth time this year Perdomo has led off. In his three previous chances he's gone 7 for 12, with two walks for a .643 OBP. 

Prior to the game we got to speak with hitting coach Joe Mather and he had a lot to say about Perdomo, who has outperformed the "expected" hitting statistics based on exit velocity and launch angles at Baseball Savant.

"The good eye is something he's always had. I think he's put it together to another level this year. He's seeing pitches every at bat. When he goes up and does swing at the first pitch it's usually a good pitch to swing at. We saw a sac fly last night, we saw a double a couple nights ago."

"Hard contact isn't necessary to win a big league ballgame or in order to be a big league player. What's really more necessary is having a good eye, plate discipline, getting on base one way or another. Hard contact for guys that have that is just a bonus. We certainly don't discriminate on how hard we're hitting our hits. We're going to take them all.  To his credit he's hitting a lot of balls on the line so those balls are going to drop no matter how hard you hit them."

"He's a pest up there, working deep into counts going from 0-2 to walk, turning the lineup over, to face hitters that pitchers definitely don't want to face. He's done a really good job of embracing that role and getting walks when pitchers definitely don't want to walk him." 

Pitching Matchup

2020 Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber continues to be one of the most effective pitchers in MLB.  He has a 5-3 record with a 3.29 ERA in 14 starts this year. He's doing it differently than he has in the past however. Perhaps in part due to a 3 MPH velocity drop since his Cy Young season from 94 to 91, his strikeout rate is down all the way to 6.6 per nine innings. Compare that to the 14.2 K/9 he posted in 2020 and 12.5 in 2021.  Now he relies on soft contact and his defense to record the outs. It's been working, but it should be noted that his 3.82 FIP (Fielding Independent pitching) is more than half a run higher than his ERA.

Bieber is throwing mostly a four-seam, cutter, and slider. He's cut back the usage of his curveball drastically this year. He was fabulous in his last outing, shutting out the Astros for seven innings on three hits, 1 walk and nine strikeouts. 

Tommy Henry (3-1, 4.86 ERA) is making his 10th start of the year. He's been hit hard in each of his last two starts, failing to get out of the 5th inning both times. He gave up 10 runs in nine innings in those two outings. Along with Ryne Nelson he has not been able to provide consistency, sprinkling in the occasional good start with mediocre or poor ones.  Tonight is likely a pivotal outing for Henry as between him and Nelson, one of them is likely to start losing the opportunity to start without some immediate improvement.