Arizona Diamondbacks seek to find rhythm on Friday vs Nationals

This week included a lot of storylines for this D-Backs ball club, from optioning their top prospect and bullpen arm to Triple-A Reno to some viewing head coach Torey Lovullo on the hot seat. Tuning out the noise and focusing on correcting the issues at hand will be paramount this weekend.

Friday’s mound matchups:

Merrill Kelly will be a breath of fresh air for the D-Backs, as Arizona will be banking on Kelly to have another stellar outing. The month of May has been kind to Kelly except for the loss against the Mets. He got knocked around in the seventh inning in his last outing against the St. Louis Cardinals, but has been a reliable presence in this starting rotation. His cramping issues are a thing of the past, and if Kelly can stay healthy and keep on the same path he has been on, his 5-2 record and 3.52 ERA will only continue to get better.

The Nationals will be having right-hander Jake Irvin on the mound on Friday night. Irvin has been relying on his curveball, though his arsenal includes a sinker, a mid-tier fastball, and throws in some changeups and cutters as well. He comes into Friday with a 4-1 record and a 3.42 ERA. In Irvins’ most recent start, he pitched eight innings with only giving up three hits and didn’t allow a run to the San Francisco Giants.

Arizona is coming off of losing their last three series in a row, and Washington is rolling into Friday winning eight of their previous 11 games. The D-Backs will need to focus and find ways to attack this Nationals team that has been aggressive and on point as of late.