Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
Arizona Diamondbacks second-year starting pitcher Patrick Corbin has been hot. Really hot.
Heading into Friday’s home matchup with the San Francisco Giants, who along with the Colorado Rockies currently sit 2.5 games behind the first-place Diamondbacks in the National League West, Corbin has a major league-leading nine wins against no losses. His ERA is also dazzling at just 2.06, and it’s only that high because he has given up a total of seven runs over his past two starts, which is the same number he had allowed in his previous five starts combined.
Not only have Corbin’s numbers been impressive, but so have the comments his teammates and opponents have made about him. Rockies first baseman Todd Helton, who is in his 17th year in the league and is set to retire at the end of the season, recently said that Corbin has the best slider he has ever seen — and he has certainly seen a lot of sliders.
So what chance do the Giants, who have yet to hit their stride after winning the World Series last season, have against the 23-year-old left-hander?
Well, throughout the three-game weekend series, they’ll have to rely on their own talented rotation, which has under-performed despite boasting a quartet of starters who could be aces on any team in Major League Baseball. And it will be Matt Cain, their designated no. 1, who gets the ball in Friday’s contest.
While the veteran hurler is just 4-3 with a 5.45 ERA, a solid performance could give the rest of San Francisco’s staff the confidence it needs to get rolling.
If not, Corbin will likely keep rolling.
Josh McKinney is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @SuperJMac32, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
