Firstly, this is going up early as it will also be a thread for the WBC quarter-finals, which get under way very shortly. We start with the appetizer of Korea taking on the Dominican Republic, and at 5 pm Arizona, we get the main course: USA vs. Canada. That’s of particular interest to us, because the Diamondbacks’ Michael Soroka will be starting on the mound for Team Moose. After their manager thinking they had already sauntered into the knock-out stages, before the Italians proved otherwise, I suspect America will not be taking this game with anything other than the utmost seriousness.
As for the Diamondbacks, they have a night game today. Mind you, given how the weather is looking for next week, might be worth moving ALL games to the evening, and this seems to be happening in some case.
Gamewise, let’s just hope today goes better than Wednesday and Thursday, where the D-backs were outscored by a margin of 25-4. While the pitching (clearly) hasn’t been good, the offense has basically evaporated over the past week or more. Over the past ten games, Arizona has scored a total of only twenty-one runs, and has not delivered (hypothetical spring) tacos in that time. Of course, it is only spring training. But, still…
Advertisement
Not quite got tonight’s line-up for the D-backs at this stage – I’ll update this a bit nearer first pitch in Surprise. But it is scheduled to be Merrill Kelly’s return to the mound as he ramps up again after his back problem. Following him, expect RHP Andrew Hoffmann, LHP Philip Abner, RHP Kade Strowd, RHP Paul Sewald, RHP Isaiah Campbell, RHP Jonathan Loáisiga and RHP Bryce Jarvis. And after what feels like forever, tonight’s game is reported to be available to watch, though it will be the Kansas City feed you’ll get. Personally, I look forward to getting the inevitable “The content you requested is not available. Please try again later” message from MLB.
Here’s your line-up for the D-backs.