The Arizona Diamondbacks may not be fighting to win the National League West, but they're definitely still in the mix for a Wild Card spot.

There's nothing wrong with being 49-47 coming out of the All-Star break, but now the team has to really dial in and figure out what's going to help get them to the next level.

Struggling veteran Merrill Kelly will take the mound in game one, and he's followed up with two really solid arms.

At the time of writing, the St. Louis Cardinals have yet to reveal their starting pitchers for this three-game series.

Remember, after the Diamondbacks host the Cardinals for three games, they'll host a different series before heading to St. Louis for one game on Thursday, July 23, in a makeup from Thursday, June 25.

Kelly, 37, has been in the same light as Zac Gallen here in 2026. There's no doubt Kelly has been better, but that's not exactly the highest bar to be comparing him to. He sported a 7-8 record with a 5.38 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in the first half of the 2026 season.

Kelly has been with Arizona for almost his entire career which began back in 2019. He has a career 3.90 ERA and 1.22 WHIP, so those numbers are clearly up, but he's looked great in his last two starts. Should Kelly echo those results, the Diamondbacks will be in good shape. 

Pfaadt will be making his seventh start this season despite it being his 17th appearance. He's recently returned to the starting rotation, a move that has given this team a massive boost.

The 27-year-old is 3-0 in his last three appearances, all of which have gone at least 5.0 innings. He's given up 13 hits and just three earned runs in that span, striking out 10 while walking only one batter.

The Venezuela native seems to have struck lightning in a bottle this season as his numbers are out of this world. Rodriguez was 8-3 in the first half with a dominant 2.29 ERA and stellar 1.17 WHIP.

Not only has he given the Diamondbacks a true left-handed ace, but he's also proven this his career is far from over. At 33 years old, Rodriguez is putting together the best season of his career, but it's worth noting he hasn't pitched more than 200 innings in a season since 2019. Currently, he's at 114.

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