The Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks are two teams headed in the opposite directions in the National league standings; they will meet for the first time this season on Friday, April 25, 2014 at Chase Field in Arizona. The Phillies will be trying to keep pace with the other teams in their division, while the Diamondbacks will be trying to improve on the worst record in baseball so far this season.
Pitching Matchup
Philadelphia will send veteran pitcher Roberto Hernandez to the mound to face the Diamondbacks, while Josh Collmenter will get his third start of the season against the Phillies.
Roberto Hernandez has not been consistent on the mound this year, but is 1-0 with a 5.75 ERA. He will be trying to get his second win of the season, after three straight starts with no decisions. He pitched well in two of those games, but he did not get enough run support, and the Philadelphia bullpen also gave up extra runs, costing him a couple of wins. So far this season, he has thrown 20 strikeouts, and issued 9 walks.
Josh Collmenter has spent the last two years in the bullpen; the Diamondbacks inserted him in the starting rotation because their pitching staff has been ineffective all year. He has a 4.05 ERA this season, and is 0-2 as a starter, with 14 strikeouts and 7 walks. He will have his work cut out for him against Philadelphia, who have the 12th best offense in the league.
The NL East is one of the toughest divisions in baseball this season, and all five teams have already won 10 games. The Phillies will have cannot afford to lose games to teams they are expected to beat if they want to have a chance to make the playoffs. The good news for them is that they have been hitting very well so far, and have one the best offenses in the league, but they will need a lot more consistency from their pitching staff, a former strength of the team, which is now a major weakness. Cliff Lee has been playing well so far this year, and Cole Hamels is expected back in the rotation soon, which should help with their pitching situation.
Arizona won 81 games last season, but lost a few key players like Willie Bloomquist, Adam Eaton, and Matt Davidson, they also failed to address their pitching situation which was a problem last year. The neglect to improve their pitching staff is one of the major reasons they are the worst team in baseball right now, they can't get opposing players out, and are dead last in the league when it comes to pitching. They will need to trade for some decent pitching if they want to turn their season around.
Game Line: The line for this game isn't up yet.
Personal Pick: Even though Hernandez has allowed a lot of runs in four starts, the Philadelphia offense will bail him out against the Diamondbacks.
If the Diamondbacks aren't planning on making any trades to improve their team, they might want to consider calling up some minor league players to see if they have any players they can develop for the future.