Diamondbacks to Begin a Critical Four Game Series vs. Padres Thursday

The Arizona Diamondbacks are in San Diego the next four days for a critical series against the Padres at Petco Park. The National League Wild Card race is shaping up to be tightly contested this summer. Despite a 29-33 record, the D-backs are only 1.5 games behind the 32-33 Padres for the third Wild Card spot.

NL Wild Card standings through June 5th, 2024 | Jack Sommers

The Padres lead the season series between the two teams, having taken two of three in Chase Field May 3rd through 5th. Head to head records are vital, as that is the first Wild Card tie breaker. San Diego was swept by the Angels in Anaheim this week and have lost four straight.

The Diamondbacks had won four straight games but dropped the three game series finale to the Giants Wednesday due to another disastrous outing from Jordan Montgomery.

Much like the Diamondbacks, the Padres have been battling injuries. Yu Darvish is out until late June with a groin strain, and Joe Musgrove is on the injured list with with right elbow inflammation. Xander Bogaerts is out until some time in the second half with a fractured shoulder. Manny Machado is day to day with a right hip flexor strain and Luis Arraez has been playing through a sore shoulder.

The Diamondbacks are without their top three rotation starters. Zac Gallen (Hamstring), Merrill Kelly, (Right Shoulder Strain) and Eduardo Rodriguez (Left Shoulder strain) are all on the injured list. Geraldo Perdomo (Right Knee) and Alek Thomas (Hamstring) are nearing return, but neither will play in this series. For more detailed Diamondbacks health updates click here.

Pitching Matchups

Thursday June 6th, 6:40 P.M.

Slade Cecconi RHP, 1-4, 5.59 ERA, 5.71 FIP in 37 IP. Cecconi had a solid outing against the Mets after getting called back up June 1st, giving up one run in 4.2 IP. He didn't walk a batter and struck out four.

Randy Vasquez RHP, 1-3, 5.74 ERA, 4.90 FIP in 26.2 IP. Vasquez went five innings against the Royals, giving up three runs to pick up his first win in six starts. He was acquired from the Yankees on December 7th in the Juan Soto trade.

Friday, June 7th, 6:40 P.M.

Brandon Pfaadt RHP, 2-4, 4.32 ERA, 3.10 FIP in 73 IP. Pfaadt leads the team in starts and innings pitched. He's gone at least six innings in nine out of 12 starts including six consecutive. His stellar 5/1 strikeout to walk ratio leads to excellent peripheral starts like FIP, but he continues to be dogged by the one bad inning. In his most recent start he gave up a four-run third inning to the Mets and no runs in the other five.

Michael King RHP, 4-4, 3.82 ERA, 4.59 FIP in 73 IP. King was excellent June 2nd against the Royals, going seven innings and giving up just one run on four hits in a no-decision. King has only given up 59 hits and struck out 78, but has allowed a league worst 13 homers.

Saturday June 8th 5:10 P.M.

Ryne Nelson RHP, 3-4, 5.44 ERA, 4.30 FIP in 48 IP. Despite having a mid 90's fastball, Nelson depends on location, and inducing enough soft contact to keep the team in games. That recipe worked in his last start in which he worked 7.2 innings giving up just two runs despite only one strikeout. For the year he's walked just 13 but only struck out 32 batters for the year.

Matt Waldron RHP, 3-5, 3.98 ERA, 3.30 FIP in 63.1 IP. The knuckleballer has been on a terrific run since giving up seven runs to the D-backs May 5th. Over his last five starts, 29.1 IP he has a 1.84 ERA with 35 strikeouts, six walks and only one homer allowed. Clearly he's figured out some consistency with his signature pitch.

Sunday June 9th, 1:10 P.M.

Blake Walston LHP, 0-0, 2.84 ERA, 4.24 FIP in 12.2 IP. Walston simply could not throw enough strikes to stay in the game in his most recent outing, He walked four and hit two batters in 4.1 innings. He managed to limit the damage to just two runs on two hits as the D-backs went on to beat the Giants 8-5.

Adam Mazur RHP, 0-0, 1.50 ERA, 4.47 FIP in 6 IP. The 23 year old rookie is making the second start of his career. He gave up just two hits and one run in six innings in his major league debut against the Angels on Tuesday. He walked four and struck out two.

Who's Hot, Who's Not

Diamondbacks hitters last seven games | Baseball-reference.com

The Diamondbacks offense woke up over the final three games in New York and the first two games against the Giants at Chase Field. They cooled off a little on Wednesday in a 9-3 loss.

Pavin Smith had a walk off home run Tuesday and hit another homer Wednesday. Ketel Marte continues to be one of the best players in the National League. Read about his All Star caliber season here.

Blaze Alexander and Randal Grichuk have been hot, but may find at bats harder to come by with four righties starting for San Diego. Corbin Carroll's sophomore slump continues unabated. Eugenio Suarez is two for his last 22 with eight strikeouts, and is starting to lose playing time perhaps.

Padres hitters last 7 days | Baseball-reference.com

The Padres had banged out 39 hits to score 21 runs in three games against the Royals. But then they scored just five runs on 21 hits while getting swept by the Angels.

The Padres offense will miss Machado if he's unable to play, as he was heating up. Fernando Tatis Jr. has 13 hits in his last six games.