Players to Watch: Diamondbacks vs. Angels
By Kody Acevedo
Jun 3, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia (8) and Brad Ziegler (29) celebrate after defeating the Atlanta Braves9-8 at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
While Saltalamacchia doesn’t have the best numbers offensively on the D-backs’ squad, he does have pretty good numbers against Jered Weaver, who will get the start on Monday.
According to Earl Bloom at MLB.com, Salty owns a .333 average against Weaver with a homer and four driven in.
This is important to note because Weaver hasn’t been himself very often in 2015. He is 4-6 overall and has dropped his last two starts. With that hanging over his head, Salty (and the rest of the D-backs’ hitters for that matter) should look to use Weaver’s struggles to their advantage.
His fastball tops out around 88 MPH, which is exactly what you want to hear if you’re a guy who’s hitting only .239 this season.