After winning road trip, Arizona Diamondbacks will enjoy home vibes as Toronto Blue Jays come to town.
A winning road trip earned the Arizona Diamondbacks a day off from the grind on Thursday. But they are back at it on Friday night, welcoming the Toronto Blue Jays into Phoenix for a three-game weekend series at Chase Field.
The Blue Jays will send Eric Lauer to the mound against the Diamondbacks' Michael Soroka. Soroka has been stellar for Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo so far this season. He's put together a 3-0 overall record with a 2.87 ERA. Soroka has walked just six batters while striking out 23.
As for Lauer, he is 1-2 with a sky-high 7.82 ERA. Lauer has struck out 12 batters and walked nine in his starts so far in the 2026 MLB season.
After the great road trip, Arizona comes into this series with an 11-8 overall record in the National League West Division. Toronto currently is 7-11 in the American League East Division.
Both the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays are in divisions where there is plenty of tough competition. So, finding some ground to gain all season long will be part of their overall plans.
Corbin Carroll, Jose Fernandez, and Ildemaro Vargas have been some of the Diamondbacks' top hitters early this season. Carroll has 19 overall hits, including six doubles, three triples, and two home runs. He also has 11 RBIs and a slash line of .311/.607/1.001.
In his rookie season in the MLB ranks, Fernandez has 15 hits in 49 at-bats. Included in those numbers are two doubles, two home runs, and eight RBIs. Fernandez has a slash line of .306/.469/.775. Those aren't numbers to sneeze at for this rookie right now.
What about Vargas? Oh, he's just smashing the baseball at times. So far this season, Vargas has 18 hits in 47 at-bats. Vargas has five doubles, one triple, two home runs, and eight RBIs. His slash line? How about a .383/.660/1.068 line at this point in the season? Imagine Vargas keeping up that offensive output all season long.
If he's able to do so, then that's a major-league story in the big-league world.
Right now, Soroka is the star of the Arizona pitching staff. Diamondbacks fans can observe his efforts on Friday night as mentioned earlier. Eduardo Rodriguez is 1-0 this season with a 1.96 ERA in four starts. Rodriguez has pitched 23 innings this season, which are the most of any pitcher on the D-backs staff.
In those 23 innings, Rodriguez has allowed 19 hits, six runs (five earned), two home runs, walked nine, and struck out 14. He has a WHIP of 1.22 at this point of the season,
Friday night's game at Chase Field has a first-pitch time of 8:40 p.m. ET (6:40 MT). On Saturday, they'll play again at 7:10 p.m. ET (5:10 p.m. MT). Then, the three-game series wraps up on Sunday afternoon at 3:10 p.m. ET (1:10 p.m. MT).
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