Battle of 2 Aces Could Define Diamondbacks' Season

The Arizona Diamondbacks are fresh off a devastating loss on Friday night to the Minnesota Twins to open a series they desperately need to win to keep pace in the playoff hunt.

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On Saturday at 4:10 p.m., they'll stare down a tough pitching matchup. Saturday will be a game that could keep Arizona's hopes alive with a win, or continue to push their season closer to its grave with a loss.

Arizona Diamondbacks vs Minnesota Twins Pitching Matchup

RHP Ryne Nelson (3.48 ERA) vs RHP Joe Ryan (3.31 ERA)

Right-hander Ryne Nelson has been the de facto ace of the D-backs with the departure of Merrill Kelly. Though arms like Zac Gallen and Eduardo Rodriguez have come alive of late, Nelson has been the most consistently successful starter in the rotation.

Nelson's 3.48 ERA is a product of four straight Quality Starts. He's provided length, efficiency and more to Arizona this season.

After a night in which a short start by Brandon Pfaadt necessetated heavy bullpen usage, the D-backs could benefit from a trademark six-plus-inning start out of their 27-year-old righty.

But the Twins will have their young stud on the mound, as well. Righty Joe Ryan has had an excellent 2025 season, despite some recent struggles.

Ryan has given up five or more runs in three of his last four starts, and only completed the second inning his last time out. Those poor starts were sandwiched around a seven-inning shutout, however.

Ryan throws a mid-90s four-seam 51% of the time. He scatters his secondary usage around a sweeper, splitter, sinker slider and curve, though none are used more than 13% of the time.

His fastball combo is his bread-and-butter. Ryan's fastball been worth +17 Run Value per Statcast, and the four-seam has been hit only .201 by opposing batters despite such a heavy usage.

Diamondbacks vs Twins Lineup

(Check back later for lineup.)

Diamondbacks vs Twins Bullpens

With two bullpens that both rank in the bottom five of MLB, each team attempted to give the other a chance to win on Friday. Arizona's bullpen ultimately prevailed in that (negative) endeavor.

The D-backs used Kyle Backhus, Ryan Thompson, Brandyn Garcia, Jalen Beeksm Jake Woodford and Andrew Saalfrank. Saalfrank was emergency-only on Friday, and may therefore be unavailable Saturday despite a low pitch count.

The Twins Kody Funderburk, Michael Tonkin, Travis Adams and Cole Sands, who combined to give up six runs. Previous interim closer Justin Topa was recently placed on the 15-Day IL with an oblique injury.

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