Eduardo Rodriguez leads a crucial divisional charge as the Arizona Diamondbacks look to bury the San Francisco Giants and gain momentum before a grueling stretch against the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers.
In total, 10 of the Arizona Diamondbacks final 13 games before the All-Star break are in the National League West.
Knowing the D-Backs are currently 12.5 games back, things could get extremely interesting in these next few weeks.
At this point, there's no need to focus on the San Diego Padres or Los Angeles Dodgers. Arizona will play four at San Diego and three at Los Angeles to end the first half, but for now, all eyes must be on the San Francisco Giants.
San Francisco is nowhere near where many thought they'd be, but that doesn't mean they aren't still dangerous. If this series doesn't go according to plan, the Giants could close what is beginning as a six-game gap between them and Arizona.
Monday, June 29
Tyler Mahle (1-7, 5.49 ERA) vs. Eduardo Rodriguez (6-2, 2.27 ERA)
For now, the lone left-handed starter in this series belongs to the Diamondbacks. Rodriguez has been phenomenal this season, and his 70 strikeouts are the second most of any of the scheduled starting pitchers in this series.
Arizona will open the series tonight against Mahle, someone who has an astonishing seven losses and an ERA that he'd love to forget about. That said, he's coming off a stellar scoreless 5.2 inning start on Wednesday, June 24. Prior to that, he had lost three straight.
Tuesday, June 30
Landen Roupp (5-7, 4.07 ERA) vs. TBD
At the time of writing, the Diamondbacks have yet to reveal who their game two starter will be. For whoever it is, they face a tough ask going toe-to-toe with Roupp and his 95 strikeouts.
There's a real chance Roupp joins the 100-strikeout club here in 2026 against the Diamondbacks. He's got at least five punchouts in his last four starts, but it's worth noting he hasn't recorded a win since Sunday, April 26, when he started the season 5-1.
Wednesday, July 1
Trevor McDonald (2-6, 4.94 ERA) vs. Zac Gallen (3-7, 6.15 ERA)
The Giants game three starter is someone who has just 45 strikeouts on the year. McDonald, 25, started the year 2-0 before dropping six of his last seven games. He had a rough outing on May 22, but even after that he's allowed at least three runs in four of his last five starts.
Diamondbacks fans know Gallen inside and out, but this team still thinks he can deliver at a high level. His ability to go deep into games is now a massive question mark, but he's coming off a relatively fine start on Friday, June 26.
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