Michael Soroka to start for Diamondbacks Tuesday

Soroka did everything he could to keep Arizona in the contest, managing to grind into the fifth inning with a playoff spot on the line. He gave up three hits, including a solo homer to Gavin Sheets, while finishing with four strikeouts and two walks. He threw 77 ;itches (49 strikes) in his final outing. He finishes a strong Diamondbacks debut in which he returned to fantasy relevance after a several-year odyssey with a strong 3.41 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 114/29 K/BB ratio across 116 innings over 22 appearances, including 21 starts.

Soroka tossed two scoreless innings in Colorado before giving up two runs, one earned, in the third, including a solo homer by Mickey Moniak. He settled back in to pitch four more scoreless frames, ending his day after seven with just the two runs allowed while striking out nine batters. The 29-year-old right-hander is due to take a 3.31 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and a 110/27 K/BB ratio into one final start against the Padres in San Diego on Sunday.

Gallen was just mopping up, but he did okay in that role, allowing only two hard-hit balls and striking out two. It was Gallen’s first ever relief appearance after 196 starts as a major leaguer. He might get a start next week if the D-backs fall out of the Wild Card race, a scenario which seems unfortunately likely at the moment.

Soroka had cruised through three scoreless innings before giving up a solo homer to Griffin Conine in the fourth. He bounced back with a scoreless fifth, ending his day after five frames with six strikeouts. The 29-year-old right-hander will take a 3.45 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and a 101/26 K/BB ratio across 104 1/3 innings into a start against the Rockies in Colorado next Tuesday.

Missing just over the minimum 15 days with shoulder inflammation, Soroka seemed to have a better chance than teammates Corbin Burnes and Zac Gallen — who each had longer layoffs and also returned during the team’s last two games — to be effective. He was sharper than either of them, maintaining his normal pitch shapes and dialing up a little extra velocity while working in bulk relief after Gallen. Yet, he let up a brutal three-run home run to Bobby Witt Jr. that wound up being the difference in this game. The only real sign of rust was that Soroka struggled to command his four-seam fastball. Attempting to adjust off that, he threw one of his two sinkers of the night on the first pitch to Witt to try and get ahead and it was crushed for that homer. Still, we should be mildly encouraged by Soroka’s return and he’s likely to pitch again next week against the Marlins at home.

Gallen pitched fine here given the circumstances, he just wasn’t particularly on point. He heavily leaned into his slider given that it was the only pitch he could confidently command in the zone which helped him stay away from his fastball. That pitch has gotten crushed all season and came in two ticks slower than its average velocity, so it made sense that he shied away from it. The only earned run he let up came via a long home run to Carter Jensen on a slider that hung, which is the game a pitcher plays when they’re so in-zone-slider dependent. Similar to Corbin Burnes yesterday, Gallen returned after throwing one short rehab outing at Triple-A followed by about a 50 pitches appearance in a Bridge League game last week. He’s lined up for what’s likely to be another abbreviated outing at home against the Marlins next week.

Gallen will start against the Royals on Wednesday after missing two months with elbow inflammation. He pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in his one rehab start with Triple-A Reno. He’s 3-9 with a 6.34 ERA in 19 starts for the Diamondbacks this season.

Soroka, back after missing two turns with shoulder inflammation, will pitch behind Zac Gallen tonight, even though he’s probably the better bet of the two. He has a 3.40 ERA in 18 starts this season.

The plan is for both of them to throw about four innings and 60 pitches. If those outings go well, that could set one or both of them up to be options to return from the injured list next week in Kansas City.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said Gallen was sitting in the low-to-mid 90’s with his fastball. He figures to make at least one traditional minor league rehab start since he isn’t eligible to come off the 60-day injured list until September 7. He’s been out with elbow inflammation since early July.