Diamondbacks Are Scorching Hot And Will Take Down Rays

Diamondbacks vs. Rays, 4:10 ET

There comes a point in each season where a team really needs to decide what they are and what their potential is. Baseball, more than almost any team sport, seems to be one that proves to be streaky. For baseball, teams tend to collectively hit together, or be in a slump together. I wouldn't say that it is quite as common with the pitching staff, but the staff also tends to perform well or underperform together. Today we get two teams that had to figure out their identity a bit and had some interesting streaks this season as the Diamondbacks take on the Rays.

I forget where it was, and I'd love to give credit to the writer, but I read something about the Diamondbacks as a team. The overall feeling was that Arizona was going to be fine even with a record that wasn't great. The reasoning was that injuries were the main root of the problem and the team was just as good as they were last season when they ended up in the World Series. If you looked at the numbers - specifically the hitting, Arizona did look like one of the better teams in the game, but for some reason the club wasn't really winning games. Now they have a healthier staff and the team continues to play well offensively. Can they replicate their success from last season? That still remains to be seen, but they have been a solid squad overall and now are playing some of their best baseball. The second half of the season has been remarkable for the club with just four losses at the time of this writing. They already have racked up 20 wins as well. In other words, whoever wrote that piece about the Diamondbacks was right, they got hot and look unbeatable at this point. Today they send out Zac Gallen, one of the better pitchers in the game. Gallen pitched well in his last game, but he was removed due to body cramps. In the game he still managed to go 4.1 innings and allowed just one run. We still haven't seen the scoreless stretch from Gallen that I've become accustomed to over the years, but he has a strong WHIP at 1.28 and his ERA is a reasonable 3.69. He hasn't seen much from the Rays hitters in his career, but they are just 2-for-11 against him overall.

Mar 28, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; A general view of Tropicana Field during the fifth inning on opening day between the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

The Rays took a different course of action this season. To enter the year, they knew they were going to be without Shane McClahanan who has been one of the better young pitchers in the game. Then they traded away Tyler Glasnow to the Dodgers. That already signaled that this probably wouldn't be a great season for Tampa, but we've seen them succeed before even after losing top-tier talent. In the middle of the season, they decided it was probably better to just trade away assets as opposed to fighting to be a middle-of-the-pack club. They traded Isaac Paredes and Randy Arozarena, losing two key pieces for now, while building for the future. I still have to give it to the Rays, even with their subtractions, and dealing with a crazy situation in Wander Franco last season, the franchise remains competitive. Even now, the team is hovering around .500. Today they send out Jeffrey Springs to try and cool off the Diamondbacks. This is only the forth start of his season, and his first three were fine. The first game he allowed two earned runs over 3.2 innings, the second he went five innings, but allowed four earned runs, and his most recent start he went five innings and allowed one solo homer. Diamondbacks hitters are just 3-for-12 against Springs. 

Hard to bet against the Diamondbacks the way they are playing now, and with Gallen on the hill, it is even harder. I do lean toward the over for this game, but my official take on this one is to not stand in the way of Arizona. I think the Diamondbacks win this game by more than one run and will take them on the run line in this one. 

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