Diamondbacks' Corbin Burnes to Face Former Team vs Brewers

The Arizona Diamondbacks will travel to Maryvale on Friday to take on the Milwaukee Brewers in a rare Cactus League night game. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m.

On the mound for the Diamondbacks will be right-handed ace Corbin Burnes. Burnes spent the first six years of his illustrious career with the Brewers, including winning the 2021 Cy Young Award as the ace of Milwaukee's rotation.

Burnes threw over 700 innings for the Brewers, and pitched to an excellent 3.26 ERA. He was worth 17.7 fWAR in those six seasons.

So far this spring, Burnes has looked like the ace he's been for the last five years. Over 13.1 innings in his first five Cactus League starts, Burnes has allowed just two earned runs, while striking out 17.

His patented cutter continues to climb up in velocity, and while his overall pace is about 1 MPH down, that's nothing to be too concerned about as he continues his ramp-up process.

Expect Burnes to try and get to around the five-inning mark, likely somewhere around or just above 70 pitches. He went four strong innings his last time out on 64 pitches.

The Brewers will send out major league starter Freddy Peralta, who was Burnes' rotation-mate throughout his time in Milwaukee, has emerged as a consistently solid starter.

Peralta threw to a 3.68 ERA, leading Milwaukee's rotation in Burnes' absence in 2024, and has posted a sub-4.00 ERA each of the past five seasons. He throws a 94 MPH four-seamer as his primary pitch, relying on the fastball for 54% of his pitches.

He also throws a changeup, slider and occasional curve, but the fastball is his most notable weapon. So far this spring, he's made just three starts. Over 10.1 innings, he's allowed three runs on nine hits and two homers, but has struck out 11 against just one walk issued to opposing batters.

Lineups

Arizona Diamondbacks vs Milwaukee Brewers — Lineups | Alex D'Agostino

The Diamondbacks have been generally adverse to using too much of their major league talent in a spring lineup, but Friday's looks just like it might in the regular season.

Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll and the rest of the D-backs' regulars will play their everyday positions, with the exception of Jake McCarthy, who will get a look at DH, with Alek Thomas playing center field.

Granted, these starters won't play the full contest, but the first few innings will give D-backs fans a solid look at what a true lineup might be against a good major-league starter in Peralta.

For the Brewers, the lineup looks similarly full of major leaguers, though missing star outfielder Christian Yelich.

Roster Move

On Friday, the Diamondbacks optioned catcher Adrian Del Castillo to Triple-A Reno. Del Castillo had dealt with some minor injuries, but had also been generally struggling at the plate this spring, slashing just .125/.125/.167 with one double, no walks and 12 strikeouts in 24 plate appearances.

That said, his defense had looked to be improved, with a pair of runners caught stealing. Del Castillo's bat has already shown success at the major league level, but GM Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo wanted to see improved defense.

Del Castillo is certainly on the right track in that regard, and his bat could easily get hot with the Reno Aces. For the time being, it'll be Jose Herrera backing up Gabriel Moreno.