After a disappointing series against the Dodgers in Tokyo, the Cubs will have over a week off from regular season action before they travel to Arizona to play the Diamondbacks for a four-game series.
Some clarity has been given as to who the Cubs will be facing in this series. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Diamondbacks have announced that pitcher Zac Gallen will be their opening-day starter against the Cubs. He also mentioned that offseason acquisition Corbin Burnes would get the ball in Game Two of the series.
Zac Gallen
Gallen has been a staple of the Diamondbacks rotation since being acquired from the Marlins back in 2019. During his time in Arizona, Gallen has pitched to the tune of a 3.32 ERA, 1.132 WHIP, a 52-34 record, and has three top-10 Cy Young finishes to his name.
Gallen has been at his best when pitching at home. Since 2022 Zac Gallen has a 26-5 record, a 2.75 ERA, and 300 K’s at home. Perhaps it’s the Arizona heat, maybe its the pitcher-friendly Chase field, but Gallen is simply a different pitcher at home.
Gallen’s pitch mix consists of a fastball, curveball, changeup, cutter, and slider. While his velocity isn’t great, his pitches have excellent breaking action making them difficult to hit. His fastball run value is graded poorly on Baseball Savant at the 15th percentile Additionally his xERA (3.97), Whiff Rate (26%), and Barrel Rate (7.4%) are all average. However, his offspeed run value (82nd percentile), Breaking run value (98th percentile) and ground ball rate (46.2%) are all elite. Gallen is an interesting pitcher to say the least.
Corbin Burnes
As for Game Two, it’s a familiar foe, Corbin Burnes. Burnes spent his first six seasons in Milwaukee pitching for the Brewers before playing for the Orioles last season. During his time in Milwaukee, he was the ace of current Cubs manager Craig Counsell’s staff.
Burnes broke out during the COVID-shortened 2020 season and won the Cy Young award in 2021 with his 2.43 ERA and other wordily 1.63 FIP. That would be the second of his five straight seasons finishing in the top-10 of Cy Young voting. Last season with the Orioles Burnes continued his dominance. His ERA of 2.92 was his best since his CY Young winning season and his 194 innings pitched were the second most in his career. As a result, Burnes signed a lucrative 6-year $210 million deal with the Diamondbacks on December 30th.
Despite good overall numbers, Burnes has one worrisome underlying metric. Burnes has seen a declining K/9 Ratio for four straight seasons and currently sits at a pedestrian 8.4. But fear not Diamondback fans, one glance at his Baseball-savant page would fill any fan with optimism. Burnes grades out as elite in the majority of categories with the only exception being his aforementioned K rate and his offspeed run value. His velocity stands out as the key differentiator from Gallen. Burnes’s fastball averages 97 MPH which is about 6-7 MPH faster than Gallen.
The Cubs certainly have their work cut out for them in the first domestic-based series of the year. This Diamondback team features two certified aces, and runs may be at a premium just like they were in Tokyo.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Cubs to face Zac Gallen and Corbin Burnes in Arizona appeared first on Heavy Sports.