Diamondbacks face Padres to start potential season-long battle

It’s no secret: The Los Angeles Dodgers have a formidable ball club. Expert predictions seemingly view the NL West as a race for second place between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres.

Arizona will face San Diego at Petco Park on Friday evening to begin a long-awaited 60-game regular season following a hiatus due to the coronavirus.

The Padres enter the 2020 season with lofty expectations, boasting Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Eric Hosmer, Wil Myers and Tommy Pham in the lineup; Kirby Yates and Emilio Pagan in the bullpen and Chris Paddack atop the rotation. The question is whether their starting rotation has the depth to consistently keep up with L.A. and Arizona.

And another question: Are the Padres sufficiently different enough from the 2019 team that finished last in the division?

We’ll see. But for now, baseball analysts expect the Padres to be one of the best non-division-winning teams in the National League this year. And Arizona gets its first look at the club on Friday, starting with a matchup against San Diego’s standout rookie from 2019, Paddack.

Friday: Madison Bumgarner vs. Chris Paddack, 6:10 p.m.

Darn tootin'. https://t.co/wLu6CizW54 pic.twitter.com/TYAaitstwP

— Cut4 (@Cut4) July 20, 2020

Referred to by one Twitter user as a cowboy showdown, Bumgarner — a.k.a. Mason Saunders — will try to get the D-backs off on the right foot with his new team. Once having 12 complete games in the span of three years, the 30-year-old’s 3.90 ERA last year isn’t quite as impressive as it’s been in the past. Still, there’s reason to believe he’s still a plenty capable MLB starting pitcher.

The D-backs went 11-8 against San Diego in 2019, and they’ll have to get through Paddack to go 1-0.

Paddack, 23, went 9-7 last year as a rookie with a 3.33 ERA in 26 starts. But he had a 2.84 ERA in the first half before sliding to a 4.01 ERA for the second half. Which version of Paddack the Padres get in 2020 will be a crucial story line to follow for their success.

Saturday: Robbie Ray vs. Dinelson Lamet, 6:10 p.m.

Ray has been the talk of summer camp, partly because observers say he’s been impressive and partly because this is a big year for the left-handed pitcher. Because of the short season, this year will be big for the one-time All-Star to prove he’s worthy of a pricey contract in the offseason.

Simply put, Saturday will be Ray’s first chance to prove he’s the 2017 All-Star version of himself, not the 2019 version of himself that had a 4.34 ERA, 1.342 WHIP, 4.3 walks per nine innings pitched and only one outing at least seven innings long.

Lamet, meanwhile, had a 4.07 ERA last year a 1.26 WHIP. He didn’t pitch at all in 2018 and had a 4.57 ERA in 2017.

Sunday: Zac Gallen vs. Garrett Richards, 1:10 p.m.

The D-backs’ first day game of the season has their rookie standout from last year, Gallen, facing off with the veteran Richards.

Arizona dealt its top prospect, Jazz Chisholm, to get Gallen from the Miami Marlins in a trade deadline deal, and he shined with a 2.89 ERA in eight starts with the D-backs. The 2020 season is a big opportunity for him to continue on a great start to his MLB career.

Richards was once a budding star with the Angels and had a 2.61 ERA in 26 starts in 2014. After posting a 3.65 ERA in his first five major league seasons, injuries have caused Richards to only make 31 major league appearances in the last four years (with a 3.36 ERA). He gave up eight earned runs in just 8.2 innings pitched last year for the Padres (he had Tommy John surgery the year prior and then suffered an unrelated setback during rehab), so Sunday will be his first try at getting back to his old trajectory.

Monday: Luke Weaver vs. TBD, 1:10 p.m.

Weaver, 26, had a 2.94 ERA last year in his first season with Arizona, but his campaign was cut short because of a forearm injury. Monday will mark his first start of 2020, one that could be a breakout year for the right-hander and that starts in a pitcher-friendly ballpark.

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