It is not necessary to have thoughts about the Diamondbacks.
In my Preview of the series against the Washington Nationals I think I expressed indirectly the hope that the Diamondbacks would be able to achieve at least a series win against what was a worse team on paper. But, the only thing that we can learn from the series against the Nationals is that the Diamondbacks are in a terrible (pitching) slump. Not even the mainstay was able to bail us out this time and Pfaadt, well, Pfaadt had his worst outing of his career so far, good chance it will be his worst outing ever. And when you do get a good starting pitching performance, well, it seems the Diamondbacks are that lucky that the starting pitcher takes himself out of the game.
It does not get any easier for the Diamondbacks from now on, although, in all honesty, I don’t think it matters at this point whether we play the Rockies, Pirates, Nationals, Dodgers, Cubs or whatever team in the MLB. As long as pitching keeps shooting itself in their own face, we will not be able to break out of the losing streaks the Diamondbacks are stringing together nowadays, save a Corbin Burnes appearance when healthy.
Now the Diamondbacks are heading to Atlanta for a 3-game series against the Braves before we visit Cincinnatti Cincinatti Cincinnati.
Let’s take a look at the Braves.
The Atlanta Braves started the season 0-7 and visited Arizona a month ago, from April 25 to 27. The Diamondbacks were 14-11 at that moment, while Atlanta had crept towards a respectable 10-14 record. The series didn’t go well. In the first game “the D-backs blundered their way to a third straight loss” (as per 1AZFan1) and we lost 8-2. In the second game we lost 8-7 in extra innings while “you’d think Suarez’s 4 home runs would have been enough….” (as per Dano_in_Tucson). In the third game “the D-backs avoided the sweep [and] let’s leave it at that, shall we?” (per Jim McLennan).
The Braves left the desert with a 12-15 record and needed a few more weeks to finally get to .500, in a 4-game series against the Washington Nationals about two weeks ago. After that they surpassed the .500 mark after winning a series against the Boston Red Sox. However, since reaching that 24-23 record, they have dropped back to a losing record. Now, with the Snakes coming to town, Atlanta will surely be looking to use the Diamondbacks as their stimpak. After the conclusion of the Sunday games, the Diamondbacks are at 28-31. The Braves find themselves in a similar position, after losing against the Red Sox, with a 27-31 record.
If you’d put the Diamondbacks’ offence on the Braves squad, you’d probably achieve a contender, just like the Braves’ pitching team would make a contender out of the Diamondbacks.
Pitching wise, the Atlanta Braves starting pitching and relief pitching rank pretty much middle of the pack. At the back of the rotation, starting pitchers A.J. Smith-Shawver and Bryce Elder have held their own, though the latter has been up and down this season and the former just recently hit the IL with a torn UCL and will miss the rest of this season and a part of 2026. Mid-rotation piece Grant Holmes has continued his good work, while Spencer Schwellenbach and Chris Sale have led the Braves top of the rotation. Recently, ace Spencer Strider returned from his TJ surgery and has made 3 starts, but is still trying to find his groove. Last year’s All Star Reynaldo López pitched in just 1 game this year before he hit the IL with a shoulder injury. In the bullpen Raisel Iglesias’ 3 blown saves, 4 losses and 5.64 ERA stand out in what is otherwise an okay major league bullpen.
The real problem for the Atlanta Braves is this year’s offence and they will surely welcome the return of Ronald Acuña Jr.. The Venezuelan superstar has returned with a bang, hitting a 1.042 OPS with 3 homeruns in just 9 games. He and usual suspects Austin Riley, Marcell Ozuna, Matt Olson and catcher Sean Murphy will have to lead the way for a Braves hitting squad that is below league average with a 98 OPS+ and just 34 stolen bases.
However it may all be, this Braves squad is a better opponent than the Washington Nationals that just beat the Diamondbacks and the Snakes will have to face Atlanta’s best pitchers in the upcoming series.
Matchups.
Game #1 Tue 06/03 4:15 PM MST, Spencer Strider (ATL) vs Zac Gallen (ARI).
Spencer Strider. 3 GS, 14.0 IP, 0 W-3 L, 4.50 ERA, 4.94 FIP, 1.29 WHIP, 15/6 K/BB.
Zac Gallen. 12 GS, 66.2 IP, 3 W-7 L, 5.54 ERA, 4.59 FIP, 1.40 WHIP, 66/32 K/BB.
Strider’s last appearance in 2024 before undergoing TJ surgery was against the Diamondbacks, where he gave up 5 runs over 4 innings, although the Braves would still end up winning the contest (6-5). Strider already returned mid April, when he made a fine debut against the Blue Jays, allowing 2 runs in 5 innings. He then strained his hamstring in training and missed about a month before returning to the rotation. His first start after coming off the IL against the Nationals was a shaky one, but his most recent outing against the Phillies was good, striking out 7 and allowing just 1 run, although he did have some control and/or command issues, evidenced by the 4 walks and that he needed almost 100 pitches but could not complete 5 innings. He will be looking to get his first win against the Diamondbacks.
The Snakes will send Zac Gallen to the mound. Except for two outings against the Mets, Gallen might be the biggest exception of the season so far. Maybe he can right the ship against the Braves. That’d be awesome but unlikely.
Game #2 Wed 06/04 4:15 PM MST, Chris Sale (ATL) vs Merrill Kelly (ARI).
Chris Sale. 12 GS, 67.2 IP, 3 W-3 L, 3.06 ERA, 3.00 FIP, 1.24 WHIP, 86/19 K/BB.
Merrill Kelly. 12 GS, 69.0 IP, 5 W-2 L, 3.78 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 1.06 WHIP, 64/18 K/BB.
Two of the most veteran pitchers will meet in the second game, although Sale obviously has carried a lot more baggage and achieved much more success than Kelly. Sale had a tough April to open the season and got his first win of the season on April 25 against the Diamondbacks. He has not looked back after that game and lowered his ERA from 6.17 to 3.06 in a little over a month, achieving a 1.42 ERA since and including the game against the Diamondbacks.
Merrill Kelly will try to keep the Diamondbacks in the game and look for a better performance than last time, when he gave up 6 runs in 5 innings against the Nationals.
Game #3 Thu 06/05 9:15 AM MST, Grant Holmes (ATL) vs Brandon Pfaadt (ARI).
Grant Holmes. 12 G, 11 GS, 64.1 IP, 3 W-4 L, 3.78 ERA, 4.67 FIP, 1.17 WHIP, 64/27 K/BB.
Brandon Pfaadt. 12 GS, 62.1 IP, 7 W-4 L, 5.05 ERA, 5.03 FIP, 1.32 WHIP, 49/15 K/BB.
Make sure you have your radio on when you take that first coffee at work, because on Thursday the Diamondbacks will play an early game in Atlanta before flying to Cincinnati. Hopefully Pfaadt will be able to get a batter out. His opponent, 29-year old Grant Holmes, is in his second major league season and the late bloomer continues to provide innings and quality pitching for the Braves. Holmes struggled in his most recent outing against the Diamondbacks and Eugenio Suárez will probably still remember him and vice versa. Holmes settled down since then with a 3.22 ERA over 6 outings. The lack of run support has kept him from getting more than one win since the outing against Arizona.
Poll
What will you have with your coffee on Thursday morning while listening to yet another loss?
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Loss? We are going to win this series!
(0 votes)
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I prefer something sweet with my coffee.
(0 votes)
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I’d rather have something salty to go with my coffee.
(0 votes)
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I don’t drink coffee!
(0 votes)
0 votes total