Diamondbacks upcoming series preview vs the not-good Rangers

The Diamondbacks are home to take on the Cowboys, er, Rangers

Yup, another AL West opponent is coming to Chase Field this week. That’s right, it’s the rebuilding Texas Rangers. At least it’ll be an even match-up. The Rangers have struggled just as much as the Diamondbacks have this season. They’ve both traded away their expiring players. They are in the beginning stages of a “retool”. They are both in the last place and have been beat up by injuries and powerful divisions. Both are young and rather inexperienced. Yet, this matchup will be a lot of fun due to those reasons. They are determined to give their best.

The Rangers this year are 48-88 so far. That’s good for last in the AL West and 2nd to last in the American League. Meanwhile, the Dbacks are 45-93, good for last in the NL West and worst in the National League.

Zac Gallen vs Spencer Howard

Zac Gallen is on the bump for the Dbacks. He had his Sunday start pushed back to Tuesday to give him some extra rest. Zac’s 2-8, 4.34 ERA, and 106 K’s on the year. No one in the Rangers lineup has faced him yet so this will be a good test.  Let’s hope he gets that 3rd win.
I’m excited to see how Zac does against these guys. He’s been good of late. We need him to continue rediscovering that form he had in the past.

On the other side, the Rangers have rookie Spencer Howard pitching for them. They acquired the former top-100 prospect after they dealt Ian Kennedy and Kyle Gibson to the Philadelphia Phillies at the trade deadline. Spencer’s been up-and-down the past few seasons and that’s continued once again during this year. On the season, he’s 0-3 with a 6.56 ERA and 40 K’s. Not that it should surprise you but no one on the Dbacks has faced him before.

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Luke Weaver vs Kohei Arihara

Luke’s back with a vengeance. After missing most of the season with a hurt shoulder, he came back strong in his last start vs the Padres. In that start, he went 6 innings with only 1 run allowed and 3 K’s. Luke’s on a comeback tour or so I’m hoping.

His overall stats for this season are 3-3, 4.11 ERA, 41 K’s. His FIP is 4.27, which is rather close to his 4.11 ERA. He’s only thrown 46 innings. Hopefully, he can add a good number to those innings after this start.

For the Rangers, they have Kohei Arihara going. He’s a rookie pitcher in the MLB but not professionally. He had been pitching in Japan since 2015. He compiled a record of 60-50 with a 3.74 ERA. He wasn’t amazing but definitely was consistent. If only that carried over to the MLB.

His struggles have been large this year. He has endured multiple injuries and just has been downright bad when he’s played. In 8 starts this year, he only has 32 innings pitched with a 6.19 ERA, 12 walks, 20 K’s, and a 2-3 record.

Neither pitcher has any history against the other’s players. It will be a first-time matchup for all of them. Let’s hope the Dbacks can kick butt against those meek Rangers.

Venomous Bites

The Diamondbacks had a roster move get leaked Monday night. FanSided’s own Robert Murray broke the news that Brandyn Sittinger is getting his first promotion to the MLB.
Brandyn’s a true underdog story and a reminder that hard work will get you everything.

Brandyn’s been crawling through the independent league circuit and Minor Leagues since 2013. He finally caught a break in 2021 when the Diamondbacks signed him to their Double-AA team. While there, he pitched 16 innings of 3 walks, 21 K’s, and 3.94 ERA ball. That’s rather impressive for a player who had not ever played at that level before.

Thus, the Dbacks moved him up to Triple-AAA. While there, he suffered some issues with his command as he walked 14 in 22 innings. That caused his ERA to jump to 4.09. Sad to say but that would be one of the best ERA’s in the Dbacks bullpen.

Also, he struck out 30 in those 22 innings showcasing his elite swing and miss stuff. He should get a chance to prove he can handle late-inning work. He can’t be any worse than what we currently have in that bullpen. Let’s give Brandyn a round of applause for his work ethic, accomplishment, and showing that you should never give up on your dreams!

Welcome to the Bigs Brandyn,

As always,

May the Force be with You…