Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll Out of D-backs Lineup Tonight

Game three of a four game set between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks takes place tonight at Chase Field, firsts pitch is 6:40 P.M.

The D-backs captured a thrilling come from behind 9-8 victory in the opener, and the Phillies responded by shellacking the D-backs 15-3 last night. Arizona remains in first place, three games clear of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West with a 41-26 record. The Phillies are 33-34, and 7.5 games back of the Braves in the NL East, but they're just three games out of the NL Wild Card. They've won eight of their last 10 however, and as we saw last year, if they get hot and get into the postseason when they made it all the way to game six of the World Series before losing to the Astros, they are a dangerous team with that offense and top front line starters.

Lineups

The big news tonight for the D-backs is Ketel Marte is out of the lineup for the second straight game with lower back tightness, as reported by Jesse Friedman of PHNX

Ketel Marte is experiencing some lower back tightness, suffered while sliding into home plate on Monday.

He has not had any imaging, and Torey Lovullo said he is available off the bench.
— Jesse Friedman (@JesseNFriedman) June 14, 2023

Other than the fact that Marte is one of the best hitters on the team, this is notable because it was a lower back issue that ended Marte's season in mid September of his 2019 breakout season. Marte has also missed significant time over the last few years with hamstring injuries. Torey Lovullo has tried to keep him fresh with targeted time off, but this appears to have been a baseball play that caused the issue.

Rookie sensation, and National League leader in WAR, OPS, and OPS+ Corbin Carroll and catcher Gabriel Moreno is also out of the lineup. This is a routine day off for both players, perhaps chosen in advance with a lefty on the mound for Carroll.

J.T. Realmuto came into this series slumping badly. Going back to May 19th, over 21 games he hit just .116 going 8-69. He busted out of the slump in a big way on Monday, hitting for the cycle and then went 2-4 with a double and a triple last night. For the series he is 6-8, with five extra base hits, 15 total bases, has scored six runs and driven in four.

Pitching Matchup

Ranger Suarez made 29 starts for the Phillies last year going 10-7 with a 3.65 ERA. He was a post season hero as well, going 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA in 15 innings of work. He suffered a left elbow strain while preparing to pitch for Venezuela in the WBC and missed the first six weeks of 2023. After struggling his first three starts he has regained last year's form. The D-backs got to him for five runs on May 24th, but since then over his last three outing, 19.2 innings he's given up just four runs, (1.83 ERA) on 17 hits, five walks and 15 K's.

Suarez throws a five pitch mix, including Sinker, Four Seam (93-94 MPH) and Cutter, along with a curveball and changeup. He's using the curveball more this year than last and seems to have gotten rid of the slider, perhaps to protect the elbow.

Merrill Kelly is tasked with keeping the big Philly bats in check tonight. He's been pitching well of late. He's 5-0 in his last five starts with a 2.56 ERA and has assumed the role of stopper while Zac Gallen works through a slump. Kelly has been making a case for an All-Star Berth and a victory tonight over a hot Philly team coming off a big win could go a long way towards getting manager Rob Thomson's attention. Kelly has not faced the Phillies since 2019.

Bullpens

As reported this morning, Torey Lovullo has indicated that Scott McGough will get more high leverage innings in the near future. That could be tonight should the opportunity arise. He's not worked in a game since Sunday. Kyle Nelson and Miguel Castro, Austin Adams, and possibly Andrew Chafin could all be available for Torey Lovullo

The Phillies should have Craig Kimbrel, Jose Alvarado, Seranthony Dominguez, and Gregory Soto all available.