Can Merrill Kelly and Christian Walker Pull the D-backs Out of Spiral?

The Diamondbacks will need a long outing from Kelly to protect their beleaguered bullpen along with some late-inning offense if they want to break their five-game losing streak

The Diamondbacks face the Rockies Tuesday night at 5:40 P.M. in an attempt to break a five-game losing streak. Their 4-7 record has them suddenly just one game ahead of the last place Rockies, who are 3-8 on the young season.

As written about by Michael McDermott earlier today, the D-backs losing streak has been born out of poor pitching in the bullpen, a near total lack of offense in the late innings, and shoddy defensive work in key situations.

The D-backs turn to Merrill Kelly in the hopes of a long, effective outing. Kelly has been excellent so far this season. He went 6.2 innings in his first start, and seven innings in his second. He's given up just three earned runs and sports a 1.98 ERA. His record is 1-0, as he was denied a win due to the lack of offensive support against the Yankees on April 3rd, leaving the game with the score tied 2-2.

The ideal situation for Arizona would be to get seven innings from Kelly with a lead, and then hand the ball off to Ryan Thompson for the 8th and Kevin Ginkel for the 9th. Neither of those two relievers has worked since Friday and should be well rested. The problem lies with what happens if Kelly goes less than seven? Remarkably, Kelly has only failed to complete six innings once in six career starts at Coors Field, which is the toughest place to pitch in MLB.

None of the other relievers in the bullpen have been overly reliable of late, with the exception of Kyle Nelson. And he threw 16 pitches on Saturday and 19 more on Sunday. Ideally the team should stay away from him in this game. Joe Mantiply only threw eight pitches last night and is likely the lefty Torey Lovullo will go to if he can.

The Rockies counter with right-hander Cal Quantill. He faced the D-backs on March 29th, taking the loss in a D-backs 7-3 victory. He went five innings, allowing five runs on nine hits, including two homers. He gave up four runs in four innings in his last start against the Cubs in a no-decision. Quantrill made five appearances, including two starts, in Coors Field while a member of the San Diego Padres, He has a 6.91 ERA in 14.1 innings at 5000 feet elevation.

Lineups

Lineups for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies on April 9, 2024.

Michael McDermott

Torey Lovullo has shaken up his lineup for this game. Ketel Marte is getting the night off, with Jace Peterson starting at second base in his place. Gabriel Moreno will bat second behind Corbin Carroll. Blaze Alexander is getting a rare chance (so far) to face a right hand pitcher. 20 of his 26 PA have come against left-hand pitching.

Christian Walker is 5-for-12 with two homers and two doubles against Quantrill in his career. The Gold Glove first baseman is definitely a player to watch for tonight. In 34 games, 167 PA, Walker's career batting line at Coors Field is .333/.401/.673, 1.075 OPS, with 13 homers and 32 RBI

Charlie Blackmon is back atop the lineup at DH. He tripled and homered last night and is batting .325 with a .947 OPS in 43 PA. He only has a .531 OPS against Kelly in 34 PA however. Kris Bryant has a .360 batting average against Kelly, but is just 2-for-9 since 2022, both hits being singles.