Diamondbacks Face Crucial Series with Nationals

The Arizona Diamondbacks are in the midst of a brutal stretch of baseball. They've lost three straight series, most recently to the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates. With a trip to Atlanta next week, the D-backs will first welcome the Washington Nationals to Chase Field for a three-game set beginning Friday.

The D-backs are 27-29 after their disappointing loss to Pittsburgh. Their hopes of contending in the Wild Card race are anything but over, but they'll need to begin capitalizing on opportunities, and with the 24-30 Nationals heading to Phoenix, Arizona needs to build some momentum with a series win, or risk digging themselves into a deeper hole.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Note: As of this writing the Nationals have not yet confirmed their rotation for the series. This article will be updated if any changes.

Friday, May 30, 6:40 p.m. RHP Merrill Kelly vs RHP Jake Irvin

Since right-hander Merrill Kelly was blown up by the Yankees on April 3, he's been one of the D-backs' most reliable arms. He sports a sturdy 3.52 ERA and 3.27 FIP, and has looked generally sharp in recent starts.

Kelly delivered three straight Quality Starts, pitching into or through the seventh inning from May 7-May 18. Though he was bit for four earned runs against the Cardinals his last time out, he had pitched a very solid game until he surrendered three in the seventh.

Righty Jake Irvin has been a solid arm for the Nationals, pitching to a 3.42 ERA. However, his peripherals suggest he's benefitted from some good defense and favorable batted ball luck, as his FIP is 4.47 and his expected ERA is 4.93.

Irvin isn't much of a strikeout arm, punching out just 6.19 batters per nine. He primarily relies on a slow looping curveball, with a low-90s four-seam sinker combo, a changeup and occasional cutter. Irvin has been prone to hard contact and has struggled to garner whiffs and chases. Eventually, those balls will find gaps.

Saturday, May 31, 7:10 p.m. RHP Brandon Pfaadt vs RHP Michael Soroka

Brandon Pfaadt has been another reliable arm for the D-backs, but his results of late have begun to match up with some of his expected stats. While he's done an admirable job going deep into games and sports a 3.90 ERA, Pfaadt's 4.91 FIP and 6.36 expected ERA are both massive jumps — in the wrong direction.

Still, Pfaadt has been effective when it comes to overall results. He's thrown six Quality Starts and has a 7-3 record, but has given up 10 earned runs in his last 15.2 innings over three starts. He's also striking out a career-low 7.07 batters per nine.

Michael Soroka has struggled to find his footing in the 2025 season, owning an ugly 5.61 ERA. His 3.62 expected ERA and 4.47 FIP suggest he's been better than that ERA, but he has been hit quite hard, sporting a 46.1% hard-hit rate (17th percentile in MLB).

Soroka throws a mid-90s four-seam with an occasional sinker, and utilizes a heavy slurve as his main secondary pitch. He also throws a changeup now and then. Soroka doesn't strike out many batters, but he also doesn't walk them, with a top-10 walk rate of 4.6%. He lives and dies by the ground ball with an 88th percentile 53.9% ground ball rate.

Sunday, June 1, RHP Corbin Burnes vs LHP Mitchell Parker

Corbin Burnes has been bit by one poorly-executed pitch in each of his past two starts, but he's looked notably more like his ace-caliber self in recent starts since skipping a start with shoulder inflammation.

In his four May starts, Burnes completed the seventh inning three times, including two dominant shutout affairs against the Dodgers and Rockies. His ERA has lowered to an excellent 2.72, and while his peripherals aren't as sharp, with a 3.77 xERA and 4.09 FIP, both of those figures have gone down considerably after this dominant month.

Burnes has a 1.67 ERA for the month of May, and has struck out 29 batters against eight walks in 27 innings. The command, movement and velocity of his trademark cutter appear to be returning to normalcy.

25-year-old southpaw Mitchell Parker hasn't had an easy start to 2025, with a 4.65 ERA and peripherals that don't stray too far from that figure. He's been roughed up for a brutal May, pitching to a 7.94 ERA over five starts, while only managing to finish the fifth inning once in those five.

Parker relies mostly on a mid-90s four-seam, a pitch he throws over 50% of the time. The fastball is his best weapon, but he does have a splitter, slider and curve to turn to. He's only striking out six batters per nine, while walking nearly four, and has been generally met with sharp contect, sporting a 46.8% hard-hit rate.

Offenses

The Diamondbacks' offense remains proficient from an overview perspective, ranking fifth in MLB by scoring 4.98 runs per game. But it could easily be a lot more, as Arizona has struggled situationally, often failing to hit with runners in scoring position. Corbin Carroll has been in a slump, hitting .221 this month, but has still homered seven times and tripled twice.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has been hot, slashing .313/.367/.525 with four homers, seven doubles and 16 RBI in the month of May. Gabriel Moreno is on a similar tear, with a .324/.351/.592 May slash, combined with four longballs of his own. Ketel Marte has homered eight times since returning from the IL on May 2, and though he's hitting just .263, he's slugging a round .600.

The Nationals have scored 4.27 runs per game, which ranks 15th in MLB and just below the league average of 4.31. They boast a young core with plenty of potential. 22-year-old outfielder James Wood has raked to a .333/.406/.602 May slash with six homers.

Shortstop CJ Abrams is slashing a consistent .280/.341/.506 for the season, while Dylan Crews has been cold with a .188 average in his last 15 games. Former Diamondback Josh Bell is hitting just .166 for Washington.

Bullpens

Arizona's bullpen woes have continued, as the D-backs' relief corp blew another lead in game two against the Pirates. Though flamethrower Justin Martinez appears to be rounding back into his unhittable former self, the struggles of Kevin Ginkel, Jalen Beeks, Ryan Thompson and most of the rest of Arizona's bullpen have persisted. Arizona's 5.49 bullpen ERA ranks 27th in MLB

Thanks to an off-day Thursday, the D-backs should have all relief options available for the series opener.

The Nationals do not have the benefit of the off day, though setup man Jose Ferrer was the only high-leverage arm to work Wednesday. Closer Kyle Finnegan has been dealing with shoulder fatigue and has not pitched since May 22. He has a 2.41 ERA on the season.

Washington is one of the few teams in MLB with a higher bullpen ERA, as their 6.11 mark comes in at number 29 in the league.