ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS NOTES:
STARTING SPOTS…VOTING THIS MONDAY-THURSDAY
♦ Seattle-native Corbin Carroll (#3) and first-year D-back Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (#4) are NL outfield finalists, going up against Mookie Betts/LAD (#2) and Michael Harris III/ ATL (#5) for the final 2 outfielder starting spots, in a 4-day voting frenzy Monday at 9 a.m.-Thursday at 9 a.m.
TOP OF THE WEST + MORE
♦ The D-backs are in first place in the NL West (+2.5) and have spent 46 days in/tied for first place in the division.
♦ The D-backs’ 17-8 record (.680) since May 28 is third in the Majors to the Reds (18-6, .750) and Braves (17-6, .739).
♦ The D-backs’ 46-31 (.597) season record is fifth in the Majors, behind the Rays (53-26, .671), Braves (48-27, .640), Rangers (47-28, .627) and Orioles (45-29, .608).
ACE ON THE HILL
♦ Merrill Kelly is among NL leaders in wins (T-1st, 9), OPP AVG (2nd, .194), WHIP (3rd, 1.07) and ERA (5th, 2.90).
- The D-backs are 6-1 in his last 7 starts overall…and 7-0 in his 7 road starts.
- Among starters on the road in the Majors, he is tied for first with 6 wins, second with a 1.98 ERA and sixth with a .211 OPP AVG.
♦ Has 5 straight quality starts…since 2017, the D-backs have only had 5 streaks of 6-or-more quality starts:
9 – Zack Greinke (April 14-May 27, 2019); 7 – Zac Gallen (Aug. 8-Sept. 9, 2022), Merrill Kelly (July 1-Aug. 6, 2022), Zac Gallen (July 31-Sept. 2, 2020); 6 – Zac Godley (May 10-June 10, 2017).
1-2 PUNCH
♦ Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, among NL pitchers in fWAR (FanGraphs) since 2022, are second and ninth, respectively: Aaron Nola/PHI (8.2), Zac Gallen/AZ (7.6), Sandy Alcantara/MIA (7.4), Zack Wheeler/PHI (7.3), Carlos Rodon/SF (6.2), Logan Webb/SF (6.0), Yu Darvish/SD (5.7), Corbin Burnes/MIL (5.7) and Merrill Kelly/AZ (5.1).
NO ZEROS
♦ The D-backs’ 77 straight games without a shutout to start the season is 1 shy of the club-record 78 games (April 1-June 27, 2013; shutout 3-0 on June 28 @ Braves) and is the fourth-longest streak in the Majors since 2017 behind the Yankees’ 138-gamer (March 28-Sept. 1, 2019) and 89-gamer (April 2-July 16 [GM1], 2017) and Nationals’ 86-gamer (April 3-July 7, 2017).
♦ Are the only team to not be shut out this season.
RUNNING IN JUNE
♦ The D-backs’ 23 stolen bases (18 of 2B, 5 of 3B) in June are fourth in the Majors to the Reds (39), Astros (26), A’s (24).
20+ DOUBLES, 15+ HOME RUNS, 40+ RBI
♦ The D-backs have 2 of the 3 players in the Majors with 20+ doubles, 15+ homers and 40+ RBI with Christian Walker (20 2B, 15 HR, 49 RBI), Corbin Carroll (20 2B, 16 HR, 41 RBI) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (21 2B, 16 HR, 47 RBI).
RISPY ROADTRIP + MORE ON THE ROAD
♦ In the first 5 games of this roadtrip, the offense with runners in scoring position is hitting .341 (14-for-41)/.952 OPS with 23 runs (11 1B, 1 2B, 2 HR, 8 BB, 6 K) and with runners on base is hitting .329 (26-for-79)/.888 OPS with 27 runs (20 1B, 3 2B, 3 RB, 11 BB, 14 K).
♦ Arizona is 8-2 in its last 10 road games and 12-3 in its last 15 games since May 20. ♦The D-backs 23-13 (.639) road record is second in the Majors to the Braves (24-12; 667).
D-FENSE! D-FENSE!
♦ Christian Walker’s 7 OAA leads all first basemen, ahead of Nathaniel Lowe/TEX (5) and Josh Naylor/CLE (5).
♦ In June, the D-backs’ .989 fielding pct. is tied for fifth in the Majors, with the Guardians and Orioles, behind the Padres (.993), Cardinals (.992), Phillies (.990), Braves (.990).
♦ Defensively, the D-backs lead the Majors with a 34.0 caught stealing pct. and 33 stolen bases allowed (fewest).
STRIKING EARLY
♦ The D-backs offense’s 15 runs (8 G) in Innings 1-2 since June 16 are second in the Majors to the Braves (6 G, 17 R).
DOMO & KETEL AT THE TOP
♦ Geraldo Perdomo, in 10 games as a leadoff hitter, is batting .350 (14-for-40) with 3 doubles and 8 walks.
♦ Ketel Marte has reached base safely in 19 of his last 20 games in the No. 2 spot (.284, 23-for-81, .920 OPS, 3 2B, 6 HR, 19 RBI, 11 BB).
STARTING PITCHER – RHP MERRILL KELLY ♦ #29
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Is 6-0 with a 1.98 ERA (9 ER in 41.0 IP) in 7 road starts… the D-backs are 7-0 in that span.
- Since the start of 2022, his 14 road wins lead the Majors among NL starters ahead of Julio Urias/LAD (12) and Yu Darvish/SD (12).
- The D-backs are 6-1 in his last 7 starts.
- His .194 opponent average ranks second in the NL behind Marcus Stroman/CHC (.191).
LAST START: Tossed his fifth consecutive quality start on June 19 @ Brewers (W; 1 ER in 7.0 IP, 7 K)…allowed an RBI triple to Christian Yelich in the third inning.
VS. GIANTS: In 16 career starts (9 quality), is 6-4 with a 3.19 ERA (34 ER in 96.0 IP)… lost his last start on Sept. 30, 2022 @ Oracle Park (8 ER in 4.2 IP)… has allowed 2 or fewer runs in 3 of his last 4 starts @ Giants.
NL RANKINGS: Ranks among NL starters in wins (T-1st, 9), WHIP (3rd, 1.07), ERA (5th, 2.90) and IP (9th, 90.0).
EARLY RISER : Is 2-0 with a 3.63 ERA (7 ER in 17.1 IP, 20 K) in 3 day starts this season.
PITCH TRACKING: Opposing batters are hitting .106 (9-for-85) with 27 strikeouts on his changeup, .163 (7-for-43) with 13 strikeouts on his cutter and .167 (3-for-18) with 7 strikeouts on his slider.
VS. LEFT AND RIGHT: Limiting lefties to a .167 average (27-for 162) with 49 strikeouts and righties to a .222 average (34 for-153) with 47 strikeouts.
KEEP ‘EM CHASING : His 34.1 out-of-zone swing percentage is a career-high.
RISP-Y BUSINESS : Holding runners in scoring position to a .174 average (8-for-46) with 12 strikeouts.
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS NOTES:
TODAY’S GAME: The Giants and Dbacks face off for game two of this three-game set this afternoon…after this series, the Giants travel to Toronto tomorrow and will have an off day on Monday before kicking off a three-game series against the Blue Jays…they’ll then head to New York for three more contests at Citi Field on the weekend.
IT’S A VIBE…: SF has won 11 of its last 12 dating to June 11 and 26 of its last 36 games (.722) dating to May 15…the .722 winning percentage is the best in MLB over that stretch… at 43-33 (.566), the Giants have the third-best record in the National League behind Atlanta (48-27, .640) and Arizona (46-31, .597) …SF’s .566 winning percentage is sixth-best in the Majors overall.
APRIL SHOWERS BROUGHT MAY (AND JUNE) FLOWERS: If you go back a bit further, the Giants actually have the best record in the Majors since May 1 at 32-17 (.653), just ahead of the Rangers (30-17, .638), Braves and tonight’s opponent Arizona (both at 30-18, .625)…below is a breakdown of the Giants team rankings in various categories since May 1.
SNAKE PLISSKEN: Since 2020 the Giants are 22-5 (.815) vs. Arizona here at Oracle Park…the .815 winning percentage is second-best of any team in the Majors vs. a divisional opponent since 2020…the last time the Giants lost a series here at home to Arizona was a two-game sweep by the D-Backs in August 2019.
THEY’RE JUST THE OPENERS…: The Giants have used an opener 11 different times this season with tonight’s outing by RHP Ryan Walker being the 12th instance they’ve done it this season…in the previous 11 instances, SF is 8-3 with a 2.85 team ERA in those games (32er, 101.0ip) while allowing 36 runs overall (3.0 runs/game)…RHP John Brebbia (who is currently on the IL) has started eight of those prior 10… the other two to do so have been LHP Scott Alexander (also currently on the IL), who did it once, and Walker, who did so on Monday and Wednesday this week.
MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK?: SF’s 317.0 innings from its bullpen are most in the NL and third-most in the Majors entering play today…however, the Giants only have one reliever who ranks in the top-25 in the Majors terms of appearances this season and that is closer Camilo Doval… he’s appeared in 35 games, tied for eighth-most in the Majors.
BULLS ON PARADE: The SF bullpen has been one of the best in MLB over the last month…since May 22, Giants relievers are 12-2 with an MLB-best 1.97 ERA (32er, 146.1ip), 160 strikeouts 14 saves and 0.94 WHIP…the Giants ‘pen has allowed seven homers in that stretch, tied for second-fewest in the Majors…no bullpen in the Majors has faced more batters in that time than the Giants (580).
BUSINESS AS USUAL: Giants rookies have played a major role in the club’s recent success…SF’s 79 RBI by rookies are tops in MLB, with three Giants ranking in the top 10 in the NL in that category in the form of C/OF Blake Sabol (23, 8th), C Patrick Bailey (22, 9th) and IF Casey Schmitt (21, 10th)….Bailey’s 22 RBI through 27 games so far are third-most by a Giant within their first 27 career games since the team moved West in 1958.
PATTY BARRELS: Bailey’s heroics last night came by way of a homer, his fourth career HR and third off a lefty…the rookie is 7-for-his-last-14 off LHP and 12-for-9 (.414) since joining SF with three homers and 10 RBI…in his minor league career, Bailey posted a .548 OPS vs LHP and slashed .172/.282/.266 vs. lefties.
