Diamondbacks Begin a Battle in the Bay Behind Two Veteran Starters

The Arizona Diamondbacks are continuing a stretch of divisional battles coming off a series split with the Dodgers. Next up in the schedule is 2025's first duel with the Giants taking place in the bayside Oracle Park.

Roster Moves

Reports surfaced on Monday that the D-backs would be making a move to select #1 prospect Jordan Lawlar, who in MLB Pipeline's recent rankings comes in at #4 across all of baseball. The young infielder has crushed the ball in Triple-A with the Reno Aces and will appear in his second major league stint, and his first since 2023.

Alongside Lawlar, the Diamondbacks also activated Kendall Graveman off of the injured list. Originally signed this winter as a reinforcement to the back end of the bullpen, Graveman has been plagued with back issues and nagging injury.

With a weak bullpen, and a team in desperate need of a spark, these two additions could change the dynamic between the D-backs and Giants in a big way.

More on the roster moves: D-backs Call-Up Top Prospect, Activate Veteran Reliever

Starting Pitching

Merrill Kelly, RHP, 4.09 ERA

The headline of Tuesday's matchup is a veteran duel on the mound. For Arizona it will be the stable force of Merrill Kelly taking the baseball. With a 4.09 ERA on the year, the 36 year old right-hander has faced some challenges, particularily struggling with command early in the year.

Still, things seem to have turned around in a big way. Kelly has pitched a minimum of five innings in each of his last six outings, allowing no more than three runs in any of them. His walk totals have also dropped significantly, handing out no more than one free pass per start in his last five outings.

The D-backs will count on him to hold the Giants at bay, a team which he has a career 3.30 ERA against in 19 outings and 114.2 total innings.

Justin Verlander, RHP, 4.50 ERA

The former Cy Young winner, now in his 20th MLB season is still pitching quality innings. While Verlander isn't quite his former dominant self, with a 4.50 ERA in his first eight starts, he has been keeping the Giants in games.

The 42 year olds last four starts have been solid, going 23.1 innings and allowing only seven runs over that span. The strikeouts have been there too, fanning 18 hitters in those starts.

In his career Verlander is 5-2 with a 3.14 ERA against Arizona, but this is a very different version of both himself, and the D-backs. More recently, Verlander allowed eight runs in just three innings against them in 2024.

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