D-backs Open Second Half of the Season in Toronto

The Diamondbacks begin the second half of the season today, as they take on the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend. This series opens up what will be a challenging next six weeks as they try to make a playoff run. The D-backs begin a nine-game, three-series road trip against teams that entered the All-Star break in a playoff spot. Those nine games plus a six-game homestand against the Cardinals and Mariners will likely determine how aggressive the team is at adding pieces beyond just the starting rotation.

D-backs manager Torey Lovullo gave an update on Merrill Kelly during his weekly segment on the Burns and Gambo Show. He said that Kelly will throw a 75-pitch simulated game at the complex tomorrow and will they will determine the next step based on how he recovers from that outing. Kelly was placed on the 15-day injured list with a blood clot in his right calf back on June 27th.

Pitching Matchups

Earlier, Jack Sommers went into more detail of the pitching matchups for this weekend. While Ryne Nelson (5-5, 5.19 ERA) is an unconventional choice to start the second half, his strong performance on the road likely played into how they wanted to shape their rotation over the next three weeks. In nine road starts he is 3-1 with a 2.81 ERA, holding opponents to a .215 average with 41 strikeouts and just 13 walks in 51 1/3 innings. At home, the results are much different as he has an 8.08 ERA and opponents are hitting .357. It's a statistical oddity, as typically the general wisdom works the other way around with young pitchers.

José Berríos (8-6, 3.50 ERA) has been a solid workhorse for the Blue Jays, averaging exactly six innings per start on the season. As Sommers alluded to in the pitching matchups, his best pitch is a slurvy breaking ball away from righties and in to lefties. He mixes in a four-seamer, sinker, slurve, and a changeup near equally to keep opposing hitters guessing.

Lineups

Arizona has three left-handed hitters and two switch hitters in their lineup. It's worth noting that Berríos has big platoon splits this year, with righties having a .590 OPS and lefties .758.

Against a very right-handed heavy Toronto lineup, the key pitch for Nelson to be able to throw is his slider and cutter. Opposing right-handed hitters are hitting .220 against the slider and .302 against the cutter this season.

This will also be the first time that Gabriel Moreno, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and Daulton Varsho will face their old teams. The D-backs traded Varsho for Moreno and Gurriel back in December.

Bullpen

With the All-Star break, both teams should be close to full strength in terms of rest for their bullpens. One interesting development from the All-Star Game was Jordan Romano left with a back issue after watching Gurriel's long foul ball. The Blue Jays closer is reportedly listed as day-to-day.