Padres at Diamondbacks Preview for April 22nd

Corbin Carroll sticking with approach despite tough strike calls going against him

The Diamondbacks and Padres play game three of a four game set today at Chase Field, game time 5:10 MST.  The Diamondbacks are in first place in the NL West with a 12-9 record. The Dodgers won today and are 1.5 games back. The Padres at 10-12 sit 2.5 games back of Arizona.

Pitching Matchups

Merrill Kelly RHP -  4 G, 21.1 IP, 1-2, 2.53 ERA, 4.23 FIP

Kelly is making his fifth start of the year. In his previous start he threw six strong innings against the Cardinals allowing just one run on five hits and no walks while striking out three.  Not walking anyone will be the key for Kelly tonight. In his first three starts he walked four batters in each game.  

Kelly faced San Diego three times last year, pitching well each time. But his nemesis Fernando Tatis Jr. was not in the lineup.  For his career Tatis is 7-18 with three homers against Kelly. 

Joe Musgrove RHP - (2022) 30 GS, 181 IP,  10-7, 2.93 ERA, 3.79 FIP

Musgrove had a very good season for the Padres in 2022, making the All Star team with a strong first half. During a spring training workout he dropped a kettlebell, fracturing his toe, and has been out until today. Musgrove made two rehab starts in the minor leagues, most recently throwing 69 pitches on April 16th.  He'll likely be limited to 80-85 pitches tonight.  

Musgrove was 1-0 with two no-decisions against the D-backs in 2022. He throws a four seam fastball, a slider, cutter and curve, and will even mix in the occasional sinker and changeup.  Last year the cutter and four seam were his best pitches, but the year prior it was the slider and curve that produced the most success. 

Lineups

Torey Lovullo is running out the same lineup he did last night. Asked about this before the game Lovullo explained his thought process. 

"I felt like this lineup had some continuity . For the first time somebody didn't need a day off in the group. I thought it was a good opportunity for us to go out there again, the same guys hitting around one another and see if we can put up another strong performance offensively.  Tomorrow is a bigger deal for me. [Yu] Darvish causes some matchup problems.  We may not have every matchup we want tomorrow. But I felt like we can have a strong matchup today." 

It was pointed out to Lovullo by a member of the press that Corbin Carroll has seven strikeouts looking this season and on all seven the out pitches called strikes were outside the zone.  Lovullo was fully aware of that and talked about Carroll's ability to stay with his approach, despite the frustrations. 

"It's frustrating when a young player comes up here and fights to get back in counts and you're working hard at  looking at a 3-2 pitch and you survey it and it's going to be a ball but it gets called a strike. That gets to be pretty frustrating. I'm aware of that. I've complimented him on his composure. He's doing just fine. Eventually he will get those calls and he's doing it the right way. I know it's frustrating for him, you can tell by his body language and especially when he gets back in the dugout. He'll let you know that it was definitely not a strike......He hasn't changed is approach, he's not coming out of it." 

Listen to what Lovullo had to say in today's pregame media session: