Can Zac Gallen Bounce Back Against Phillies?

The Diamondbacks play the Philadelphia Phillies today at 10:05 A.M. Arizona time, 1:05 P.M. EST. It's the final game of a three game series at Citizens Bank Ballpark. The D-backs took the first two games, 6-3 and 4-3, and are going for the sweep.

Preview

The D-backs are the hottest team in the National League, having won nine of their last 11 games. They're on a four game winning streak, which they've done three times this year. Their 29-20 record is the 3rd best in the NL and they're currently 4 games up in the NL Wild Card standings, and 1.5 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West.

The Phillies are 3-7 in their last 10 and 22-26 for the season. They are 2.5 games out of the wild card and in 4th place in the NL East, 7 full games back of the Braves. The boo birds have been out at CBP, as much more was expected of a team with a $241 million payroll, second only the to New York Mets in the NL.

Pitching Matchup

Zac Gallen, 6-2, 2.95 ERA, 1.98 FIP is coming off arguably the worst start of his career. On May 19th he gave up eight runs to the Pirates, seven of them coming in the fourth inning. He lacked command on all of his pitches, issuing a season high four walks, and was hit hard when making location mistakes in the zone. Prior to that, Gallen had been saying that he didn't feel quite right after his previous three starts, so there is some level of concern heading into this start.

Gallen had a 28 inning scoreless streak in April, and still maintains the best Strikeout to Walk ratio (6.0) in the league. That coupled with allowing only two homers for the season has resulted in a league best 1.98 FIP (Fielding independent pitching).

This will be Gallen's third time making a start in Philadelphia. He grew up in New Jersey and attended Phillies games as a kid. The first time he came "home" he pitched well going five innings and allowing just two unearned runs, getting the win. But last year on June 10th. was a disaster, when he couldn't get out of the second inning, giving up all seven runs in a 7-5 D-backs loss. Speaking to Nick Piecoro of AZ Central, Gallen had the following to say about pitching in front of family and friends:

“I think every time you go home you have that thought in the back of your mind that you want to play well,” Gallen said. “If it doesn’t happen, you’re not really sure how you’ll deal with it. I’ve already kind of experienced that. So it’s all gravy for me. I get to come home, spend three days in a ballpark I grew up coming to as a kid and see a bunch of family. That’s the bigger picture for me.”

Ranger Suarez, LHP, 0-1, 10.50 ERA, 2.61 FIP is only making his second start of the season and has only pitched six innings, and not got over 72 pitches yet. Suarez suffered a left elbow strain while getting ready to pitch for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. He began the year on the injured list and did not return until May 13th against the Rockies. In his last outing he pitched just two innings, giving up four runs on five hits and three walks in a 10-1 loss to the Cubs. In two starts so far he's walked four and struck out eight and hasn't given up a homer yet, but has allowed 12 hits.

Suarez made 29 starts for the Phillies last year, posting a 10-7 record with a 3.65 ERA. He was terrific in the post season last year, making three starts and two relief appearances, going 2-0, 1.23 ERA in 14.2 innings. He throws three different fastballs, a Sinker and Four Seam about 93 MPH on average, and also has a Cutter. He throws a change up over 20% of the time and also features a curveball.

Lineups

The D-backs have an all left-hand hitting outfield today as Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is getting the day off. He has a 16 game hitting streak and has been the hottest hitter in the NL this month. Opposing managers have been loathe to let left hand batters face Suarez, as for his career they have just a .185 B.A. and .494 OPS against him. Emmanuel Rivera and Evan Longoria will need to step up to fill in the gap.

The Phillies have stacked their lineup with six left hand batters against Gallen. But Gallen has reverse splits this year, holding LHB to a lower B.A. and OPS than right RHB. That's actually been the norm for him throughout most of his career. (.199 BA, .588 OPS against LHB, .217 B.A., .660 OPS against RHB)

Bullpens

The D-backs had to use five relievers yesterday and four relievers on Monday. Andrew Chafin, Miguel Castro, and Kyle Nelson have all worked on back to back nights. It's imperative that Gallen go at least six or seven innings today.

The Phillies pen should be a little better rested as they have four relievers that did not work last night. Craig Kimbrel has not worked in the series as there hasn't been a save chance. Jeff Hoffman, Andrew Vasquez, and Connor Brogdon should be the freshest Phillies relievers.