Arizona @Dbacks Opening Day: What to Know and What to Wear

What To Watch For

Arizona finished last season at 81-81 for the second straight year. Offseason acquisitions (including ex-LA Angel Mark Trumbo, ex-Chicago White Sox Addison Reed, and free agent Bronson Arroyo) could make them a wild-card threat this season.

D-back’s ace Patrick Corbin will be out this season (and maybe some of 2015) to recover from his Tommy John elbow surgery.

Brandon McCarthy will get the ball for Opening Day. His first Opening Day start since 2012 (at Oakland), McCarthy was better at home than away last year (3.79 ERA in 80 2/3 innings vs. 5.63 in 54 1/3 on the road).

Now that Didi Gregorious is in Triple-A, Chris Owings will get the start at shortstop. Owings hit .291 in 20 games with the D-backs last year.

Starting Pitchers: Brandon McCarthy (AZ), Madison Bumgarner (SF)

Opening Day Lineup (Projected)
1 – A.J. Pollack – CF
2 – Aaron Hill – 2B
3 – Paul Goldschmidt – 1B
4 – Martin Prado – 3B
5 – Miguel Montero – C
6 – Mark Trumbo – LF
7 – Gerardo Parra – RF
8 – Chris Owings – SS
9 – Brandon McCarthy – RHP

The Competition

Marco Scutaro’s diagnostic nerve block procedure means the Giants will probably go with a combination of rookie Ehire Adiranza and Joaquin Arias at second base.

Hunter Pence (who led the Giants with 27 homers last season) is expected to hit second overall. With a record of seven hits in 13 at-bats vs. the right-handed pitcher, Pence will undoubtedly continue to be a big obstacle for McCarthy.

Although he was worse against right-handers and on the road, Bumgarner did some impressive work against the D-backs last season, striking out 28 and allowing only five earned runs in 32 1/3 innings.