Diamondbacks at Cardinals Game Preview: Joe Mantiply Returns

NOTE: This article has been updated due to a late lineup change from the Diamondbacks

The Arizona Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals square off for the second game of a three game series tonight, game time 4:45 MST. In last night's game the D-backs took down the Cardinals 6-3 behind a Pavin Smith grand slam and six strong innings from Merrill Kelly. Box Score

The Diamondbacks stand alone atop the NL West division with a 10-7 record, two games clear of the Dodgers. They are the only team in the division with winning record. The Cardinals are 7-10 and have fallen to last place in the NL Central, five full games behind the first place Brewers.

Left hand reliever Joe Mantiply has been reinstated by the D-backs from the 15-day injured least. he had been dealing with shoulder inflammation and required a rehab stint with Double-A Amarillo. Luis Frias was optioned after last night's game to Triple-A Reno to make room on the roster. Mantiply was the team's lone All-star representative last year and arrives just in time to spell the potentially overworked Andrew Chafin and Kyle Nelson.

Pitching Matchup

Drey Jameson RHP (2-0, 1.46 ERA in 12.1 IP) is making his second start of the year. In his previous start he threw 54 pitches trying to get stretched out again after spending the first two weeks of the season in the bullpen. Expect him to be able to throw at least 70 pitches today, and perhaps as many as 80. He'll need to be efficient to get past the fifth inning. With a day game tomorrow and no off day before starting a home series on Thursday against the Padres, the D-backs will need as much length as possible to protect the bullpen.

Jameson has done a good job of preventing runs overall, but he'll need to limit the homers and walks going forward. His five walks and four homers allowed have led to a 4.71 FIP (Fielding independent pitching). Outside of his fastball velocity (95 on the sinker and 97 on the four seam) and the swing and miss rates, his other underlying numbers such as average exit velocity (91.5 MPH) and hard hit rate (48.5%) are all considerably worse than league average.

While these numbers themselves are not overly important in such small sample sizes, and Jameson has been a bright spot for the team so far this year, it's something to keep an eye on.

Jordan Montgomery LHP, (2-1, 2.45 ERA in 18.1 IP) has picked up right where he left off after going from the Yankees to the Cardinals in a trade deadline deal on August 2nd of last year. He was 6-3 with a 3.11 ERA in 11 starts for the Cardinals down the stretch in 2022. He took the loss in his last outing on April 13th against the Pirates despite allowing just two runs in 6.1 innings.

Montgomery throws a sinker (93 MPH), curveball, change up, four seamer, and the occasional cutter. The name of his game is getting ahead and throwing strikes and inducing ground balls. He has an excellent 2.5 BB/9 ratio for his career and his current ground ball rate this year is 51%, 6% higher than the league average of45%. He's also allowed just 19 steals with nine caught stealing in 584 career innings.

LINEUPS

The Diamondbacks are facing a left hand starting pitcher for the 8th time in 18 games. They're 2-5 when the other team starts a lefty and overall their team batting numbers have not been good against southpaws, batting 234/.285/.359. The middle of the order is stacked with veteran right hand hitters today with Lourdes Gurriel Jr, Christian Walker and Evan Longoria batting three, four, and five.

Former Diamondback Paul Goldschmidt is back in the lineup at first base, with Nolan Arenado getting the day off. Rookie Jordan Montgomery is out of the lineup as well, with Lars Nootbar moving over to right field and Dylan Carlson gets the start in center.