D-Backs Need to Stay Hot Vs. the Angels This Week

The Diamondbacks are playing good baseball. They are coming off of likely one of the most important stretches of the season, having played 13 games in 13 days, with their last 7 being against division rivals.

Even while being exhausted, injured, and playing high-intensity games the D-Backs performed well, going 4-3 in their last 7 against the Giants and Padres and 6-4 in their last 10 games. Now they will head home seeking to make up some ground in the Wild Card standings.

Going into an off-day the Diamondbacks sit at a record of 31-35, 5 games below .500. The National League however continues to struggle as a collective, leaving Arizona only 1 game out of a Wild Card spot. This series will be an important stepping stone into taking control of a playoff spot.

The Angels have gotten off to a bad start to the season. They lost Shohei Ohtani this off-season to the Dodgers and are without Mike Trout, losing him to another injury. Anaheim currently sits at a record of 25-40, good for last in the AL West behind the Oakland A's.

It should be noted prior to dropping two of three to the Astros, the Angels just swept the Padres in three low scoring games in Anaheim.

The Diamondbacks are still without their top 3 arms in the rotation, with Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, and Eduardo Rodriguez all still on the shelf, as well as rookie left-hander Blake Walston now out with elbow inflammation.

Geraldo Perdomo however is expected to return this homestand, potentially in this series against the Angels. Alek Thomas is also closing in on a return as well, but is behind after facing multiple setbacks.

Pitching Matchups

Tuesday, June 11th, 6:40 PM

Jordan Montgomery LHP, 3-4, 6.80 ERA, 4.75 FIP in 46.1 IP. Montgomery is coming off a stretch of poor starts. He has given up 14 runs combined between his last two outings and only went a collective 6 innings in those outings. He has gotten hit hard and will look to rebound against Anaheim.

José Suarez LHP, 1-0, 6.54 ERA, 4.73 FIP in 31.2 IP. Suarez has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen this year but has worked as a starter in the past. He started 7 games in 2023 and 20 in 2022 for the Angels big league club. He will give them some length but he has not performed well out of the bullpen. This year he has given up 46 hits in 31 innings.

Wednsday, June 12th, 6:40 PM

Slade Cecconi RHP, 1-4, 5.66 ERA, 5.76 FIP in 41.1 IP Cecconi is coming off a tough start in San Diego, going only 4.2 innings and giving up 3 runs. His numbers have been puzzling as he has been elite early in games but is jumped on after the second time through a lineup.

TBD. Possibly Jose Soriano, RHP. While the Angels website still shows Wednesday's starter as TBD, this would be Jose Soriano's turn. He is 3-4 with a 3.64 ERA in 64 innings. He's got a 60% ground ball rate, and a 3.84 FIP

Thursday, June 13th, 6:40 PM

Brandon Pfaadt RHP, 2-5, 4.60 ERA, 3.52 FIP in 78.1 IP Pfaadt has been the Diamondbacks' best healthy pitcher on the staff. He is however coming off arguably the worst start of the season, giving up 5 runs in 5.1 innings vs the Padres.

TBD. Possibly Griffin Canning RHP. Thursday is also listed as TBD for the Angels. This would be Canning's turn. He's 2-6 with a 4.65 ERA and 5.15 FIP in 69 innings

Who's Hot, Who's Not

After bad showings from the offense in games 2 and 3 of the series in San Diego, they rallied for 9 runs in the finale to secure a series split. This comes in a stretch of consistency from the bats. Before June 8th they had scored at least 3 runs in 8 straight games.

Jake McCarthy is coming off a big day in San Diego, collecting 3 hits, including a home run as well as taking an impressive 13-pitch walk in the 9th off Yuki Matsui. Corbin Carroll also enjoyed a nice series against the Padres, tallying 6 hits and a double against the brown and gold, with his second 3 hit game of the series in the opener.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had a great weekend, with 5 hits in his last 3 games, including a double in the finale. Gurriel seems to have figured something out as he has 14 hits in his last 12 games and has driven in 10 runs in that span.

Gabriel Moreno hit a home run in his first at bat of the Padres series, but went 0 for 9 afterwards. He was dealing with an illness, which kept him out of Game 3, that could explain the sudden lack of production after seeming to have turned a corner in the Giants Series.

Kevin Pillar has been hot to start his season with the Angels, wth a 175 OPS+ to begin the year. He collected 4 hits in 2 games against the Astros including a home run. Logan O'Hoppe also had 5 hits in 2 games against Houston, including a walkoff home run in the finale.

Overall though the Angels are batting just .208 with a .613 OPS over their last six games. For the year they are batting .236 and their .684 Team OPS ranks 18th.

The Angels have also been without Brandon Drury due to a Hamstring strain, but he is expected back for this series. Anthony Rendon (Hamstring) and Miguel Sano (knee) are also on the injured list and unlikely to return for this series.