Arizona Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals Series Preview

We cover all the bases to give you a comprehensive review of the upcoming matchup at Chase Field this weekend

The Diamondbacks host the St. Louis Cardinals for three games at Chase Field this weekend, starting Friday night. Both teams haven an identical 6-7 record. The D-backs have a +17 run differential, but the Cardinals are -5. Arizona is coming off a series victory against the Rockies, taking two of three. They are 5-2 against the Rockies, but lost two of three to the Yankees and were swept by the Braves last weekend. The Cardinals dropped the finale and rubber match of their series with the Phillies on Wednesday.

Cardinals Off-season and Injury List

The Cardinals struck early in the offseason to bolster their pitching staff. They signed Sonny Gray (3 years, $75 million) Kyle Gibson (1 year $13 million) and Lance Lynn (1 year $11 million). D-backs fans will be saddened to learn the team won't get to face Lynn this series. He famously gave up four homers in one inning while pitching for the Dodgers in the divisional series last year.

Much like the Diamondbacks, the Cardinals have been hit with a host of early season injuries. They signed reliever Keynan Middleton to a a 1 year, $6 million deal. The former D-back is on the injured list however with a forearm strain. They also brought back Matt Carpenter on a 1 year, $2 million deal, but he is on the IL with an oblique strain.

Meanwhile outfielder Dylan Carlson is out until Mid May with a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder. Infielder Tommy Edman had right wrist surgery last October and is not expected back until late May. Fan favorite Lars Nootbar suffered rib fractures back on March 2nd and has not gotten back to the majors yet, although he may be getting close. In fact, Nootbar is expected to be activated from the injured list ahead of Friday's series opener.

D-backs injured list updates

Alek Thomas, left hamstring strain, has been cleared for all baseball activities and has been running in a straight line. While he's technically eligible to come off the IL by Friday, it's unlikely the D-backs rush him back. No specific time frame for his return has been reported by the team.

Eduardo Rodriguez is still working his way back from a left lat strain suffered on March 19th. Thought not to be serious at the time, he's only been able to recently throw a couple of bullpens and has not yet faced live hitters. He will certainly require at least two, possibly three minor league rehab starts. As such the earliest he might return is late April or early May.

Paul Sewald has been gradually working on a throwing program as he recovers from a Grade 2 Oblique strain. Such an injury typically means a 6-8 weeks absence. He went on the IL March 28th. The most optimistic forecasts have him back sometime around mid May.

Geraldo Perdomo just had arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus, and will be out at least until mid May at the earliest.

Pitching Matchups

Friday, April 12, 6:40 P.M. MST

Steven Matz (LHP) 1-0, 1.74 ERA, vs. Brandon Pfaadt (RHP) 1-0, 5.06 ERA

The 32 year old Matz is off to a good start this season, pitching effectively in both his outings so far. Most recently he went five scoreless against the Marlins, giving up just four hits, a walk, with three strikeouts. Last year on July 25th he threw six shutout innings at Chase Field against the D-backs, out-dueling Merrill Kelly, who only gave up one run. The D-backs won that game by scoring three runs in the 8th

Pfaadt was pitching a good game in his last outing against the Braves, but got bit by his old nemesis, the long ball, giving up a three run homer to Marcel Ozuna in the 5th. He went 5.2 innings, giving up five runs despite striking out seven and walking just one.

Saturday, April 13th, 5:10 P.M. MST

Kyle Gibson, (RHP) 1-1, 6.23 ERA vs. Ryne Nelson 0-2, 8.22 ERA

Gibson is 36 years old now, having pitched in over 300 games and 1700 innings. He's 105-101, with a 4.56 career ERA. Last year he went 15-9 in 33 starts for the Orioles but posted a 4.73 ERA. His age and run prevention profile limited his market during the off-season. He pitched very well in his first start, going seven innings and giving up just two runs to the Padres in a victory. He was torched for seven runs on seven hits, including two homers against the Marlins on April 7th taking he loss.

Nelson was decent against the Braves in his last outing, going five innings and giving up three runs. He didn't walk a batter and struck out seven, flashing good secondary stuff that made his fastball play up for plenty of swing and miss. He gave up two homers though. It was a far cry better than his first outing in which he lasted just 2.2 innings , giving up five runs to the Rockies.

Sunday, April 14th, 1:10 P.M. MST

Miles Mikolas, (RHP) 1-1, 4.76 ERA vs. Zac Gallen 2-0, 2.25 ERA

After a very rough outing on Opening Day against the Padres, Mikolas has been solid each of his last two games. throwing 6.0 and 6.2 innings while only giving up two runs in each start. In 17 innings he's only struck out 12 batters, but he's given up just 5 walks and didn't allow a homer in either of his previous two outings.

Gallen saw his pitch count rise quickly against the Rockies on April 8th, causing him to last just five innings, He gave up three runs in a no-decision, but didn't walk a batter and struck out a season high 10. He's yet to give up a homer in 16 innings and has 19 strikeouts against just five walks, resulting in a 1.98 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching)

Offense

The Cardinals have struggled mightily to score runs. Former Diamondbacks great Paul Goldschmidt went 3-4 with a homer on opening day, but since then is 5-40 with 15 strikeouts. The Cardinals rank 13th in the National League in both team batting average (.219) and OPS (.642) . They have three steals and have been caught three times. Their 50 runs scored ranks 11th in the league.

The Diamondbacks rank 5th in batting average (.266) and 6th in OPS (.761). Their eight stolen bases rank 6th as well, but they've been caught four times, tied for the second most in the league. Overall Arizona's 74 runs scored ranks 3rd in the league. 24 of those runs have come in the first inning, the most in MLB. Conversely they've struggled in late and close situations, batting just .122 and driving in four runs despite drawing a league high 10 walks in such situations. They may have corrected that somewhat against the Rockies on Wednesday afternoon, scoring three runs late in the game.

Bullpens

The Diamondbacks have the 3rd best bullpen ERA in the NL, posting a 3.56 mark. But their only two saves in five opportunities came over the last two games. Both of those were recorded by Kevin Ginkel. The Cardinals have a 3.74 bullpen ERA but have notched 5 saves, four by closer Ryan Helsley.

Prediction

The Diamondbacks win the series by taking two out of three. They'll split the first two games, but Zac Gallen will pitch them to the series victory on Sunday, thus getting the team back to .500 with an 8-8 record.