Arizona Diamondbacks: Is Taijuan Walker the odd man out of playoff rotation?

Should the Arizona Diamondbacks win the Wild Card Game, they will have to decide who starts in the Division Series

Entering Sunday’s series finale with the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park, nobody in the Arizona Diamondbacks starting rotation wanted to be the weak link.

Arizona starters were 5-0 with a 1.62 ERA (10 earned runs in 55.2 innings pitched) in their previous eight starts before Sunday. During those eight starts, nobody allowed more than two runs. That streak was the longest since a nine-game streak from Aug. 23-31, 2011.

That streak ended on Sunday — against one of the worst hitting teams in baseball this season.

Taijuan Walker only managed to pitch five innings and gave up four earned runs against the Giants, and the Diamondbacks dropped the series finale.

The starting rotation has set the tone for all of the Diamondbacks wins, so it is no surprise that less than ideal outing led to a loss.

Assuming the Diamondbacks hold on to home field advantage for the N.L. Wild Card Game, it is almost certain Zack Greinke will take the ball.

If the Snakes win, it is almost a guarantee that Robbie Ray would start game one of the Division Series, even if the D-backs play the Nationals.

So who starts game three? Normally, teams in the division series go with a three-man rotation, but for the purposes of this article, I will include a fourth starter. Sometimes, the first or second starter is not ready to go again in game four.

That leaves the biggest question: who is the odd man in the Diamondbacks rotation? This is far from an easy choice.