Two teams scrapping for a playoff spot close out their weekend set in Houston, with Arizona's shredded rotation and Houston's grip on the AL West both hanging over the finale.
Eduardo Rodriguez takes the ball for Arizona at 1:10 PM CT, and he's quietly been the best value the Diamondbacks have gotten from any starter all year — 14-5 with a 2.59 ERA. His last time out wasn't his sharpest: 5 innings, 8 hits and 3 earned runs against Philadelphia, with 3 walks, more than he usually hands out. Houston hasn't named a starter for Sunday, which tracks for a rotation that's been in flux most of the season.
That flux cuts both ways. Arizona is trying to build a staff around Rodriguez while Zac Gallen, Corbin Burnes, Ryne Nelson and Michael Soroka are all rehabbing arm injuries at once — Gallen and Soroka were lined up for simulated games Friday, Burnes was throwing in a bridge outing, and Nelson was headed to a rehab assignment with Single-A Visalia. Houston's injury list is shorter but not nothing: Mike Burrows is out with shoulder inflammation, and Carlos Correa is still ramping up at the Astros' Florida complex rather than manning shortstop. Neither club is at full strength walking into this weekend.
The stakes make those depth questions matter more than they normally would. Houston is clinging to a half-game edge over Texas in the AL West, with Seattle another 2.5 games back, and Yordan Alvarez has spent the season leading the American League in all three Triple Crown categories. Arizona, meanwhile, sits half a game behind San Diego for the final NL Wild Card spot. Neither race has any slack left in it.
Both clubs arrive on unremarkable recent form — Arizona has gone 2-3 in its last 5 games, Houston 3-2. This is the finale of a 3-game set between these two at Houston, with Friday and Saturday still to be played, so whatever shape the series carries into Sunday is still getting written.
Whoever starts for Houston, and whichever version of Arizona's bullpen shows up, both teams are leaning on innings from arms currently rehabbing in Florida and Arizona instead of pitching meaningful games. That gap between the active roster and the injury report is the real story of this series, wild-card math or not.
