Arizona Diamondbacks vs Los Angeles Dodgers Prediction & Match Preview - May 17th

The Arizona Diamondbacks square off against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first game of their double header and the second game of their four-game series at Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles. The National League West rivals are both jockeying for position in the most competitive division in the majors.

The Diamondbacks have a 18-17 record that is only good for fourth place in a division in which the worst team, the Colorado Rockies, has a 17-17 record. The D-backs are 1.5 games behind the wildcard spot. The Dodgers, on the other hand, are delivering their signature domination sporting a 21-12 record early in the season.

Match Details

Fixture: Arizona Diamondbacks vs Los Angeles Dodgers.

Date & Time: Tuesday, May 17, 3:10 p.m. EDT.

Venue: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California.

Arizona Diamondbacks Preview

Coming into the new season, the Arizona Diamondbacks were projected to be the bottom-feeding team in the division with a lack of preseason roster moves and unheralded names in the lineup.

The Diamondbacks' pitching crew has picked up the slack for the team as they are one of the more premier pitching rotations in baseball this season. The team currently sits tenth in the league for team ERA with 3.53. This is surprising as many predicted the pitching would be the biggest downfall of the Diamondbacks this season.

Key Player - Merrill Kelly

Merrill Kelly has been a pleasant surprise for the Arizona Diamondbacks this season. The 33-year-old pitcher, who's just in his fourth major league season after starting his career in the Korean Baseball Organization league's SK Wyverns, carries a 1.71 ERA through seven starts this season.

"2022 NL ERA Leaders: Pablo Lopez (1.00), Miles Mikolas (1.49), Merrill Kelly (1.71), Carlos Rodon (1.80)" - @ Baseball Reference

Kelly has been one of the most underrated starters this season. It will be a tough matchup against an excellent Dodgers offense, but with the NL West being as competitive as it is, the D-backs could have a chance to pull this one out of the bag.

Arizona Diamondbacks Projected Lineup

Starting Pitcher: Merill Kelly.

Daulton Varsho, C
Pavin Smith, RF
David Peralta, LF
Christian Walker, 1B
Josh Rojas, 3B
Ketel Marte, 2B
Alek Thomas, CF
Nick Ahmed, SS
Cooper Hummel, DH

Los Angeles Dodgers Preview

Much to the surprise of no one, the Los Angeles Dodgers are dominating in the early proceedings. They currently lead the NL West from their biggest rivals from the San Francisco Giants to the San Diego Padres.

The Blue Crew has the best pitching staff in baseball and has only given up 89 earned runs through 33 games for a 2.74 ERA. They have their opponents swinging in the air as they've only issued a .211 batting average to the opposition. With Arizona having a lackluster offense heading into the game, any Dodgers pitcher might make a meal out of their division rivals' batters.

Key Player - Trea Turner

The man with the smoothest slide in all of baseball will be the X-Factor in this game. Turner owns a .273 BA with 22 RBIs, nine doubles, a triple, and six stolen bases on 35 hits this campaign.

"Guys, Trea Turner did the cool guy slide again" - @ Starting 9

The Dodgers are 5-5 in their last ten and will need to reassert their dominance. Who better to draw inspiration from than one of the most clutch active hitters in all of the majors?

Los Angeles Dodgers Projected Lineup

Starting Pitcher: Julio Urias.

Mookie Betts, RF
Freddie Freeman, 1B
Trea Turner, SS
Will Smith, C
Max Muncy, DH
Justin Turner, 3B
Cody Bellinger, CF
Chris Taylor, LF
Gavin Lux, 2B

Arizona Diamondbacks vs Los Angeles Dodgers Prediction

The Diamondbacks have lost two straight at the time of writing, while the Dodgers have been mildly inconsistent, being 5-5 in their last ten games. The D-backs have been a better team on the road than at home with a 8-6 record so far. We'll go the contrarian rout and predict the Arizona Diamondbacks will pull one against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first game of their double-header. D-backs to win, 3-2.

Where to follow Diamondbacks vs Dodgers?

Watch: Bally Sports Arizona (D-backs), SportsNet LA (Dodgers).

Listen: ESPN Phoenix 620, KHOV Univision 105.1 (D-backs), Dodgers Radio AM570, KTNQ 1020 (Dodgers).

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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Edited by Windy Goodloe

Arizona Diamondbacks vs Los Angeles Dodgers Prediction & Match Preview - May 17th | MLB Season 2022