Diamondbacks Make First Visit to Yankee Stadium Since 2019

The Diamondbacks are back in New York, this time for a three-game series against the Yankees. Weather is likely to impact the series as Tropical Storm Ophelia moves up the East Coast. Tonight's game is not expected to have any delays, but Saturday and Sunday are under threat.

The Diamondbacks currently hold the 2nd Wild Card spot in the NL standings with an 81-72 record. They're three games behind the Phillies for the first spot and two games ahead of the Cubs and Marlins. The Yankees are 77-76 and are all but eliminated from Wild Card contention, 7.5 games back of the Rangers and Mariners, and have an elimination number of three.

Torey Lovullo has a long of history coaching and managing games in Yankee Stadium during his time with the Red Sox when both teams were really good. Asked about those experiences, he reminisced a bit before bringing it back to his own team.

"That was an unbelievable rivalry, I'll never forget it. I spent some great nights here and not so great nights. They were battles, a lot of Hall of Fame type players just going head to head. I had a front row seat to it. It was probably some of the most exciting baseball that I've been around prior to coming here and watching this team do what they've done this past month."

Lovullo expressed confidence his team was ready for this experience and did not feel that they would be overwhelmed in any way playing in Yankee Stadium.

"I think they're unfazed, they're in a really good place right now. We've been talking about it being the most exciting time of the year. All the hard work has been done, just go out and enjoy what you do best, and be great, just do your job.....This is like a Broadway stage. You get a chance to do it in a great venue in front of a lot of fans. I know our guys are excited about that."

Roster Move

Miguel Castro has gone on paternity leave to be with his wife who gave birth yesterday in the Dominican Republic. He is expected back for the Chicago White Sox series next week. Slade Cecconi has been called up in his place and will be able to provide length out of the bullpen if needed.

Pitching Matchup

Brandon Pfaadt had one of his best starts of the season against the Cubs last time out, throwing 5.1 scoreless innings in a 6-4 D-backs win. For Pfaadt, the key is keeping the ball in the ballpark. When he's allowed zero or one home run, he has a 4.62 ERA in 12 games, which while not great, is at least competitive. When he allows two or more homers, his ERA soars to 8.77. On the flip side, 14 of his 20 homers allowed have been solo shots. He has an above-average strikeout-to-walk ratio. If he commands the ball, especially his fastball, away from the middle of the zone, he can keep the home runs and hard contact under control.

Luke Weaver is on his third team this season, and fifth overall since leaving the Diamondbacks. He faced the D-backs on July 23rd and gave up three runs on eight hits in four innings having previously pitched for the Reds and Mariners. The former Diamondback was also knocked around in a relief appearance against Arizona last year.

Lineups

Outside of Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres, the Yankees lineup has been abysmal this season. Judge is hitting .259/.396/.576 with 32 homers and 80 walks in just 427 plate appearances. He missed nearly two months with a broken toe. Torres has a .274 average with 25 homers, good for a .806 OPS and 119 OPS+. As a team, however, the Yankees have a shockingly low 90 OPS+ or roughly 10% below the league average. The problem they have is too many similar types of hitters that swing and miss a lot, especially at sliders away. They have the 5th worst run value on sliders in MLB, with -35

Corbin Carroll's run at history continues during this playoff stretch run. He has 25 homers and 50 stolen, the first rookie ever to reach those two milestones in a season. He's just the 13th player overall in the history of the game to do it. While he has stated numerous times he's not focused on personal milestones while the team is in the playoff hunt, he still has nine games left to reach even greater heights. His jersey from his record-setting performance on Wednesday has already been sent to Cooperstown.

Perfect timing, as @Corbin_Carroll’s historic uniform just arrived @BaseballHall. #Dbacks https://t.co/EwAStnLqsd pic.twitter.com/nANzjYJksy
— Josh Rawitch (@HOFprez) September 20, 2023

The Diamondbacks offense has been firing on all cylinders their last five games, batting .309/.374/.475, .850 OPS while scoring 34 runs, or 6.8 R/G. Along with Carroll, Gabriel Moreno, Ketel Marte, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had a terrific homestand, each posting an OPS over 1.000 during the last five games.

Series Starting Pitchers:

Lovullo stated that Zach Davies will start tomorrow if the game is not rained and Zac Gallen will start on Sunday. Gallen then lines up for a Saturday start against the Astros and game two of the wild card series on October 4th if they make it in. Lovullo hesitated to answer that question, not wanting to take anything for granted. Ryne Nelson will work out of the bullpen and is available today and during the week in long relief along Cecconi. Tuesday's game is "wide open with everything on the table" for that particular day according to Lovullo. That usually means a bullpen game.

With the potential for rainouts, however, Lovullo said it would be more of a read-and-react situation for how makeup games might factor in. There are numerous contingencies being built around if there is a rainout on one or both days this weekend.