Game #25: Diamondbacks vs. Royals Preview

Diamondbacks go for the series win tonight, with one of the top pitchers in baseball standing in their way.

The Diamondbacks (13-11) are looking to take the series with another win against the Kansas City Royals (5-18). Last night, the D-backs were able to take the first game in gritty fashion after a late walk came around to score in the eighth. 

How to Watch

Television: Bally Sports Arizona Extra, Bally Sports Kansas City

Radio: 98.7 FM Arizona's Sports Station, 105.1 KHOV Univision (Spanish); KCSP 610

Starting Pitcher Matchup

RHP Ryne Nelson (4 GS, 1-0, 4.91 ERA, 22 IP, 14 K, 8 BB)

Nelson struggled in his last start, allowing five runs on three hits and three walks in a 7-5 loss to the Padres. While he hasn't looked particularly dominant in any of his four starts, but he’s done a good job of keeping his team in the game in all of them. Advanced metrics have painted mixed reviews on his run prevention, as a 5.10 FIP and 5.50 xFIP suggest he's been overperforming while his 3.68 xERA suggest an underperformance. The lack of strikeouts may be fueling the high FIP and xFIP while xERA likes his ability to limit quality of contact.

Nelson averages just under 94 MPH on his four-seam fastball, which plays up due to above-average extension (67th percentile). His main secondary pitches are a cutter, slider, curveball, and changeup. He does a good job of avoiding the barrel of the bat, with slightly above-average marks in exit velocity, barrel rate, and hard-hit rate. 

RHP Brady Singer (4 GS, 1-2, 8.14 ERA, 21 IP, 19 K, 6 BB)

Singer has gotten off to a slow start this season, which isn't too uncommon for pitchers returning from the World Baseball Classic. Hitters have been squaring him up, with an average exit velocity of 97.6 MPH and a hard-hit rate of 69.1% in his first four starts. For a pitcher of his track record, that is not likely to be a longstanding problem as he further locks in his pitch location. In his last start, he held Toronto to one run over five innings, so he might be getting close, although he walked three hitters.

Singer commands a sinker that averages 93 MPH well, especially throwing it off the front hip of left-handed hitters for called third strikes. He also features the typical secondary pitches for a sinkerballer, with a slider and changeup. Against right-handed hitters, the sinker and slider are typically enough but mixes in the changeup almost exclusively to left-handed hitters. D-backs hitters will need to force Singer up in the zone and capitalize on the one mistake pitch they'll get in an at-bat. 

Lineups

Notes

First baseman Christian Walker returns to the starting lineup. After getting hit on the forearm late in Saturday's game against San Diego, he sat out Sunday's game and came off the bench to score the winning run of last night's game. Walker is hitting .400/.435/.700 with a home run in the past seven days.

No D-backs hitter has more than three career at-bats against Singer, most likely coming from last season. Conversely, no Royal hitter has faced Ryne Nelson at the big league level although some of their younger guys may have faced him in Double-A and/or Triple-A the past two seasons.

No hitter is hotter over the past seven days than catcher Gabriel Moreno. Moreno is hitting .450 with a home run, eight RBI, and as many walks as strikeouts with two apiece. He has been impressive in his first stint with the D-backs, both offensively and defensively, hitting .290 with a .711 OPS (96 OPS+) and caught five of eight potential base-stealers. The two things that stand out are his ability to get the bat on the ball in two-strike situations and how quick he transfers the ball throwing to second. 

Roster Moves and Health Updates

The decision to send down McCarthy to Reno came down to fixing his swing mechanics instead of spending the whole season trying to catch up and post subpar numbers. Earlier today, Jack Sommers highlighted what may have been causing his early season slump. Both general manager Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo gave McCarthy a full vote of confidence that he'll be a big part of what they want to accomplish in 2023.

With the team set to face a potential string of left-handed starters, they elected to recall the right-handed hitting Rivera from Reno instead of an outfielder. For tomorrow's game they'll face soft-tossing lefty Ryan Yarborough to close out the series, then face Kyle Freeland and Austin Gomber when they travel to Colorado. Freeland is scheduled to pitch the series opener and Gomber the series finale.

Related Coverage

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Emmanuel Rivera Recalled From Reno