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Jordan Montgomery Back on the mound again against the Dodgers.
The veteran left-hander will face the Dodgers the night after being scratched due to a bee delay.
After being removed from Tuesday night’s start due to a bee, left-hander Jordan Montgomery (1-1, 2.77 ERA) will face the Dodgers 24 hours later. There may be some fear about Montgomery being heated again one day after a little warm-up followed by two hours of sitting. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo addressed the decision.
“He said he’d come in here today and be revved up, ready, and 100%. I trust him because he understands himself. I believe a full night’s sleep will help him clear his mind and avoid the frustration of the up, down, UP he was possibly dealing with yesterday.”
On the other side, the D-backs will face Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2-1, 3.54 ERA) for the first time. Yamamoto signed a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers in the winter, with the idea that he would anchor the top of the rotation. He is one of the best beginning pitchers in terms of missing bats and avoiding free passes, with a strikeout percentage of 31.9% and a walk rate of 5.4%.
If Yamamoto has one shortcoming, it is that he can be hit hard when his fastball is not in the proper position. This season, opposing batters are hitting.316 and slugging.605 against his four-seamer. Expect a lot of early-count swings against the fastball to keep him from getting to his nasty secondary pitches, particularly the curveball and split-finger.
Starting Lineups and Notes
Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers’ superstar, is out of the lineup with a left-handed pitcher on the mound. Austin Barnes will start at catcher, and Will Smith will bat as the designated hitter.
Blaze Alexander will start at shortstop for the D-backs in the third game of the series. Kevin Newman began the first two games.
Catcher Gabriel Moreno has been removed from the lineup as a precaution due to a dental operation. He is ready to bat off the bench.
D-backs bullpen
After needing the bullpen to complete 30 outs last night, they were a little short on length with both Bryce Jarvis and Logan Allen unavailable. To add length and depth to the bullpen in the series’ last game, they called up left-hander Blake Walston from Triple-A Reno. Walston has been stretched out as a starter all season, so he should be able to provide some length if Montgomery has a short start or goes extra innings.
