Kyle Harrison (8-1, 2.57 ERA) gets the ball at 6:45 PM MT against Jose Cabrera, a 24-year-old righty who debuted in the majors on June 21. Harrison is working on one of the more quietly dominant seasons in baseball — 96 strikeouts, a 96:19 K:BB ratio over 77 innings, and a 0.91 ERA over his last 7 starts. The Diamondbacks are putting a guy who's been in the majors for less than 2 weeks on the mound against him.
Harrison was acquired from the Red Sox in an offseason trade, and he's been one of the biggest steals of the winter. Aside from a June 8 blowup in Las Vegas — 8 runs against the Athletics — he's been locked in all season, holding opponents to 2 runs or fewer in 14 of 15 starts. His last outing against the Cubs on June 27 was another strong one: 5 innings, 9 strikeouts, 2 runs. Cabrera showed some promise in his own debut but took a loss against Tampa Bay a week ago, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits in 5 innings. The fastball plays, the secondary stuff is real, but this is a big jump for a young pitcher.
Milwaukee came into this series playing well. The Brewers swept the Reds 3 out of 4 at home last week before getting clipped 7-2 in the finale, then made the trip west. At 53-32, they're one of the better teams in the NL and playing like it. Arizona is at exactly .500 at 43-43, and while the offense has been serviceable, the Diamondbacks have been doing heavy rotation triage all season. They went 2-2 in their last homestand against the Giants before dropping the finale, and they dropped 2 of 3 to Tampa Bay on the road before that. Nothing about their recent schedule says momentum.
- 10-Day-ILBrandon Lockridge LF — Lockridge's timeline for a return has been pushed back to late July after imaging showed a chondral flap in his right patella, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
- 15-Day-ILCarlos Rodriguez RP — Rodriguez (shoulder) struck out a batter and allowed three earned runs on two hits and one walk across 1.1 innings Wednesday in a rehab start for the Brewers' rookie-level Arizona Complex League affiiate.
- 15-Day-ILLogan Henderson SP — Henderson (back) will make his next minor-league rehab start Friday, Jack Stern of BrewerFanatic.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILRob Zastryzny RP — Zastryzny (shoulder) will throw a live batting practice session Tuesday, Jack Stern of BrewerFanatic.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILDL Hall RP — Hall (pectoral) has progressed to throwing on flat ground from 60-to-75 feet, Jack Stern of BrewerFanatic.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILColeman Crow SP — Crow (forearm) will throw a live batting practice session Tuesday, Jack Stern of BrewerFanatic.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILQuinn Priester SP — Priester will undergo thoracic outlet compression surgery on Monday and is expected to be sidelined 8-to-10 months, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
- 60-Day-ILBrian Fitzpatrick RP — Fitzpatrick (elbow) has been diagnosed with a left UCL strain and will get a second opinion to determine if he needs Tommy John surgery, MLB.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILJames McCann C — McCann (quadriceps) will begin a rehab assignment Thursday, MLB.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILJordan Lawlar LF — Manager Torey Lovullo said June 20 that Lawlar will receive further imaging on his strained right hamstring during the All-Star break to gauge his healing, Steve Gilbert MLB.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILMichael Soroka SP — Soroka (glute) is expected to begin throwing bullpen sessions twice weekly starting Tuesday, MLB.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILCorbin Burnes SP — Burnes (elbow) is expected to be re-evaluated during the first or second week of July, Alex Weiner of ArizonaSports.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILRyne Nelson SP — The Diamondbacks transferred Nelson (elbow) to the 60-day injured list Thursday.
- 60-Day-ILA.J. Puk RP — Arizona is shutting down Puk (elbow) for another four weeks due to a capsule strain and he will also undergo another MRI in four weeks, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.
- 60-Day-ILCristian Mena RP — Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told reporters Monday that Mena underwent surgery on his right shoulder and will be sidelined for the rest of the season, Jack Sommers of SI.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILBlake Walston SP — Walston (elbow) paused his rehab program earlier in the season, but he was expected to start building back up around the middle of May, MLB.com reports.
The reason Cabrera is starting Friday is sitting right there in the Arizona injury report. Corbin Burnes — the ace brought in to anchor this rotation — is on the 60-day IL after an elbow setback and won't be re-evaluated until early July at the earliest. Ryne Nelson is also gone for a while. Michael Soroka just went on the 15-day IL with a glute issue. The Diamondbacks have a reliever on the 60-day IL named Cristian Mena who had shoulder surgery and is done for the year. That's a lot of arms to replace. On Milwaukee's end, the bullpen is also banged up — Carlos Rodriguez, DL Hall, Rob Zastryzny, Angel Zerpa, and Brian Fitzpatrick are all unavailable — but with Harrison in line to go deep into this one, the pen situation is a secondary concern at best.