The Arizona Diamondbacks may be taking some steps towards respectability in the near future.
They aren’t in contention right now, but they’ve assembled a solid group of young starting pitchers led by staff ace Zac Gallen who could soon help turn this team into a contender once more.
Over the last couple of seasons, they’ve had a couple of guys make their debuts against one of the most powerful offensive teams in all of baseball in the San Diego Padres.
Speaking of those young starters, there have been four of them over the past two seasons who have thrown at least six scoreless innings against the Padres in their first career starts, with one of the most notable examples being Tyler Gilbert tossing a no-hitter last season.
.@Dbacks pitchers with 6.0+ shutout IP vs. Padres in their first career start, last 2 years:
Taylor Widener
Tyler Gilbert
Ryne Nelson
Drey JamesonNo other team in the entire expansion era (since 1961) has had 4 pitchers do that vs. the same opponent in their first career start
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) September 16, 2022
Arizona Pitchers Make History
This is something to look forward to if you’re a D’Backs fan.
The young pitchers have a ton of promise and bright futures ahead of them, and they’ve all made some unique history against the powerful Padres.
No team in the expansion era has had four pitchers do that against the same opponent in their first career start.
That’s some impressive history right there and it’s a reason for fans in Arizona to be hopeful for the future, especially when they’ve all pitched extremely well against a very stacked lineup.
It may not get them back into postseason contention this year, as it’s a little too late for that anyways, but that’s something to forward to in Arizona.
Perhaps those starters, along with Zac Gallen and Madison Bumgarner, could help usher in a new era of Diamondbacks baseball, one that returns them to their winning ways.
