There’s No Place Like Home: Diamondbacks vs. Phillies Series Preview, April 10-12

The Phillies head home after their first road trip of the season, a very up-and-down road trip as the Phillies ended the trip with two consecutive shutout losses against the San Francisco Giants, two games where the offense was non-existent. The offense comes home with a 20-inning scoreless streak, as well as only 1 extra-base hit in the final two games of the Giants Series.

While the Phillies do get the luxury of being home, the work will not come very easily, as they welcome the Arizona Diamondbacks for the first time in 2026. The Diamonbacks enter with momentum as they have won 4 of their last 5 games, including two this week against the Phillies’ rival in the Big Apple, the New York Mets.

Desert Offseason

Since this is the first time the Phillies and D-backs have faced each other this season, it’s good to know what major changes Arizona has made since the end of last season. Overall, Arizona had a very similar off-season plan as the Phillies did, re-signing important talent, and while bringing in minimal extra help for the Major League roster, the help they did bring in could provide solid value.

The important re-signings for the Diamondbacks during the winter were two pitchers for the rotation: bringing back Merrill Kelly on a 2-year $40 million deal, and Zac Gallen on a 1-year $16.2 million prove-it deal. The Phillies won’t have to worry about Kelly this series, but will face Gallen Sunday afternoon.

The D-backs added to the rotation by signing former Atlanta Brave Michael Soroka to a 1-year, $7.5 million deal. Soroka has been successful in 2 starts this season, pitching to a 0.90 ERA in 10 innings. The Phillies will look to stop that success as Soroka is slated to take the series opener on Friday night, and have been successful in that goal in the past, as Soroka has a career 5.68 ERA in 4 starts against the Phillies; none of those starts have Soroka gotten past the 5th inning.

Arizona also added to the lineup by trading for multi-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner Nolan Arenado from the St. Louis Cardinals. Arenado is not the same bat he was back in his prime, but he still offers defense and experience to a young Diamondbacks team.

Starting Pitching Has To Throw Punches

One of the reasons the Phillies have had the up-and-down season that they’ve had is the fact that the starting rotation has not been as dominant as it was in years past, especially not as dominant as it was last season. Every pitcher in the rotation has had two starts so far this season, and each starter has had 1 of his 2 starts not go very well.

For the Phillies to have a successful series and home stand, the rotation has to get momentum early and start to get it more consistently overall. Especially given the offense is having major inconsistencies this year. That begins with Jesus Luzardo taking the bump for the opener and building off his last start, where he struck out 11 Rockies in 6 innings of 1-run ball. He already pitched well against one National League West team; it is imperative he does it against another.

Offense Needs To Wake Up

The biggest reason the Phillies have had an inconsistent start to the season is the fact that the lineup has been subpar, to say the least. The top 3, while getting better, have not had a strong start to the season. The team continues to have inept numbers with runners-in-scoring-position. The offense has also been horrifically poor against left-handed pitching through the entirety of the young season.

The Phillies are facing a Diamondbacks pitching staff, both rotation and bullpen, that doesn’t have any names that cause clear worry to a lineup. Even with several pitchers on the Diamondbacks roster having good starts to the season, the main thing that is going to determine whether this series is a success offensively is the members of the offense itself.

Rob Thomson said after the series in San Francisco that he could mix up the lineup a bit.

Game Times and Broadcast

Friday, April 10, 6:40 PM ET, NBC Sports Philadelphia +, 94.1 WIP

Saturday, April 11, 1:05 PM ET, NBC Sports Philadelphia, FS1, 94.1 WIP

Sunday, April 12, 1:35 PM ET, NBC Sports Philadelphia, 94.1 WIP

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Michael Soroka (RHP, 2-0, 0.90 ERA) vs. Jesus Luzardo (LHP, 1-1, 4.97 ERA)

Game 2: Brandon Pfaadt (RHP, 0-0, 6.75 ERA) vs. Taijuan Walker (RHP, 0-2, 9.31 ERA)

Game 3: Zac Gallen (RHP, 1-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Andrew Painter (RHP, 1-0, 4.82 ERA)

The Number

• Run Differential:
• Phillies: -15
• Diamondbacks: -13

• Runs Scored Per Game:
• Phillies: 4.71
• Diamondbacks: 3.75

• Runs Allowed Per Game:
• Phillies: 4.75
• Diamondbacks: 4.83

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