On paper, this game looks like a pretty significant mismatch.
When the first pitch is thrown around 8:40 tonight Barry Enright (6.49 ERA, 5.88 FIP) will be on the mound for the Diamondbacks. He was recalled from AAA Reno to start tonight, and has been pretty poor in six starts with Arizona this season. He's striking out under five batters per nine while walking 3.89, and has allowed over 1.8 home runs per nine innings in 34.2 major league innings this season. He last pitched for Reno on Thursday, and allowed five runs on ten hits over six innings against Colorado Springs.
Enright only has 23 career major league appearances, but over those outings he's shown a ~90 mph fastball, slider, curve and change. The slider and changeup have been above-average major league pitches, while the fastball and curve have not. But again, all the small sample size caveats apply here.
Enright hasn't pitched in the majors since May 4, and as such he was not with the team when the Diamondbacks and Brewers met two weeks ago. He did, however, face the Brewers on August 10th of last season and allowed a run on just three hits over six innings. Alcides Escobar took him deep in that game.
Enright will face Yovani Gallardo (4.08 ERA, 3.83 FIP), making his first start since getting roughed up by the Rockies on Thursday. Gallardo pitched just four innings in that game, allowing six runs on eleven hits with no walks and two strikeouts. On the up side, he should be pretty well rested: The 92 pitches he threw in that game were his lowest total since May 2.
If I could give Gallardo one piece of advice coming into tonight's game, it might be to trust his fastball a little more. FanGraphs says it's been his best pitch this season at +0.16 runs per 100, but he's still only throwing it about 60% of the time. As was the case last year, he's relying heavily on his slider and curve, and almost entirely ignoring his changeup.
Gallardo beat Arizona two starts ago, holding them to a run on four hits over seven innings on July 6. Four current Diamondbacks have faced him ten times or more:
| Player | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Geoff Blum | 15 | .214 | .200 | .429 | .629 |
| Kelly Johnson | 13 | .125 | .417 | .500 | .917 |
| Stephen Drew | 11 | .200 | .273 | .200 | .473 |
| Chris Young | 10 | .100 | .100 | .100 | .200 |
Via Adam McCalvy, here's tonight's lineup:
Corey Hart RF
Nyjer Morgan CF
Ryan Braun LF
Prince Fielder 1B
Rickie Weeks 2B
Casey McGehee 3B
Yuniesky Betancourt SS
Jonathan Lucroy C
Yovani Gallardo P
In the bullpen, nearly everyone got a needed day of rest yesterday:
Tim Dillard pitched .2 innings (16 pitches) last night.
John Axford pitched one inning (24 pitches) Sunday.
Francisco Rodriguez pitched one inning (20 pitches) Sunday.
LaTroy Hawkins pitched one inning (14 pitches) Sunday.
Takashi Saito pitched one inning (15 pitches) Sunday.
Kameron Loe hasn't pitched since Saturday.
Marco Estrada hasn't pitched since Thursday.
Last but not least, don't forget to make your Prognostikeggers predictions before it's too late.