Don’t Expect Fireworks Early In Diamondbacks Vs Dodgers

Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers, 9:10 ET

Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers, 9:10 ET

This is my favorite holiday of the year. There are other good ones – Christmas was great as a kid, Thanksgiving is fun because of the food and football – but there is something different about the 4th. We have baseball on all day, America’s pastime. We typically have great, hot weather which means time in a pool. If you know me, all I need to be happy is to be in some water and have a cold beer. I also love the food, with hot dogs, hamburgers, ribs, etc. I love it. Let’s make it even better by capping the day off with a victory as we watch the best celebratory part of the day, fireworks. 

The Diamondbacks remain in the same situation that they’ve been in for the majority of the campaign. They are sitting with a 41-44 record, obviously below .500, and they have been below since they were 4-3 for the year. There are a variety of reasons that the team is struggling this year. Some of them are injury-related, some are performance-related, and probably some is due to the fact that the team went so deep into the playoffs last year and threw off this offseason for the club. You really can’t blame the offense for the lack of wins. The club is hitting over .250 for the season and have over 400 runs scored. That puts them at an average of around 4.7 runs per game. The pitching staff has been the bigger concern and they are missing Merrill Kelly dearly. For the season, the club has a 4.67 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, and opposing hitters are batting .264 against them. Tonight, they do get their best pitcher, Zac Gallen, taking on the tough Dodgers lineup. Gallen is 6-4 this season with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. Gallen got hurt in his last may start and missed almost all of June. He had just one start but it was a great one as he went six scoreless innings and allowed just one hit to the Athletics. He has not faced the Dodgers this season, but they are not great against him anyway. In 96 at-bats they have just 20 hits, though half of them have gone for extra bases. 

May 4, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) hits a solo home run against the Atlanta Braves during the third inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers lost a guy that is an annual MVP candidate and they really don’t look like they’ve lost a step. They are still rolling even without Mookie Betts and look like they are positioned for another division title. And, Betts will be back this season. Right now he is expected to return sometime in August probably. Even if they push it to September, the Dodgers should be fine as they are already 20 games over .500 and look like one of the two best teams in the league. At this point you have to expect that Shohei Ohtani will probably be the MVP of the league and Freddie Freeman is still hitting almost .300, so they still have two superstars. The pitching staff was piecemealed together – to a certain extent at least – last season. This year they added Tyler Glasnow, Walker Buehler is back, and they’ve gotten great production from the other arms in the rotation as the team has a 3.38 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. In his six starts, tonight’s starter, Landon Knack, has been solid for them. Knack started with three outings in April, then only made one start in May. He made two starts in June and covered 9.2 innings, allowing just one solo homer. He did face the Diamondbacks once this season, going five innings, allowing one solo homer on four hits and one walk. 

It is hard to bet against Gallen, but it is even harder to bet against the Dodgers, even without Betts. I think the best option here is to hope Gallen is starting one of his scoreless streaks and performs well against Los Angeles in this game. I do think the Diamondbacks could win this game, but I don’t feel like it is the best bet. I’m going to back the first five under in this game and hope that both pitchers are on their “A” game.

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