Series Preview #9: Padres @ Diamondbacks

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - APRIL 24: A general view of Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu during the 2026 Mexico City Series preview photos on Friday, April 24, 2026 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images

No ABS.

For those of you who, just like me, wasn’t really having its vision towards the next series, it might have come as a surprise to see the Diamondbacks play a two-game weekend series against a division rival.

The reason: the Diamondbacks move to Mexico to face the San Diego Padres in an International Series.

It is MLB’s first international series of the season and, by courtesy of a couple of articles on MLB.com, here are some facts:

• It is the 3rd time that MLB plays a series at the Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú in Mexico City.
• The first time MLB played at this stadium was in 2023, when the Padres faced the Giants.
• In 2024 MLB returned with a game between the Astros and Rockies.
• The stadium has around 20,000 seats and is named after a minority owner of the Padres.
• The stadium is at an elevation of 7,300 feet above sea level, so we could expect lots of homeruns: Padres and Giants launched 11 in their inaugural match of the series in 2023.
• The Padres have played MLB games 4 times in Mexico, one against each NL West opponent so far.
• The Diamondbacks have never played a regular season game in Mexico, though have been in Mexico 11 times for exhibition games (Hermosillo and Monterey).
• This match won’t have the ABS, because the stadium lacks the infrastructure for it.

The Diamondbacks nor the Padres have a Mexican player on their 40-man roster. Alek Thomas has played for Mexico in the past on the WBC. Who will the Mexicans side with?

The Padres are league leaders.

The Padres started the season with a 2-4 record after the first two series but beat the Red Sox and the Pirates after that to get to .500. Ever since, they have taken advantage of a poor Rockies team, sweeping a four-game series and winning a three-game one. In between another sweep of the Seattle Mariners and a series win against the Angels, who halted their 8-game winning streak. It is no surprise that this hot Padres team has taken over the Dodgers as league leaders.

The guys that have carried the Padres’ offence are not the names you’d most likely expect. Sure, Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. have had their share of RBI’s and hits, but since the start of their 8-game winning streak against Pittsburgh, veteran Xander Bogaerts (3 homeruns, 12 RBI, 178 WRC+), Ramón Laureano (12 homeruns, 11 RBI, 148 WRC+) and first baseman Gavin Sheets (3 homeruns, 7 RBI, 134 WRC+) have been driving everyone in. Both Bogaerts (.342 BABIP) and Laureano (.419 BABIP) are especially riding the hot bat. Add to that some excellent pitching from starters like Michael King and Randy Vasquez, reliable innings from former Rockie Germán Marquez and former Dodger Walker Buehler and a stand-out performance from the bullpen, led by Mason Miller and his 9 saves and 0.00 ERA, and you have yourself a very difficult team to beat.

Now the Diamondbacks haven’t been a shabby team themselves either, winning every series since splitting the four-game series against the Braves, until we found our Waterloo in the Chicago White Sox. That loss hurt and seems unnecessary and, from previous years, we know that those losses will cost you the post-season.

Matchups.

Game #1 Sat 04/24 3:05 PM MST, Zac Gallen (ARI) vs Germán Márquez (SDP).

• Zac Gallen. 5 GS, 25.2 IP, 1 W-1 L, 3.51 ERA, 3.87 FIP, 1.48 WHIP, 14/7 K/BB.
• Germán Márquez. 4 GS, 18.2 IP, 2 W-1 L, 3.86 ERA, 5.97 FIP, 1.39 WHIP, 15/6 K/BB.

Gallen sure isn’t pitching like an ace and battles heavy traffic on the bases each time he goes out there, though it hasn’t resulted in too many runs. The Padres aren’t a team that get on base easily, but once they get on, they are one of the better ones in running them to get home. Currently the offence is one of the colder ones and they lean heavy on the hot bat of Bogaerts and Laureano. The other bats will probably come alive sooner or later, but let’s hope it won’t happen in Mexico City against Zac Gallen.

Germán Márquez was once a promising pitcher in Denver until he wasn’t, hampered by many injuries. Last year he was crap for the Rockies, finishing the season with 26 games and a 6.70 ERA. Positive thing was: it was his first full season since 2022. The Padres offered him a 1-year contract with an annual average salary of $1,750,000 in the off-season. So far, that has paid off, especially considering he is de-facto the 5th starting pitcher in the rotation. His first outing of the season was a bit of a hiccup against the Giants, but since then he has fired two scoreless outings against Pittsburgh and, his most recent one, against the Angels. In between his former team, Rockies, punished him with 4 runs in 5 innings, though he still got the win.

Game #2 Sun 04/25 1:05 PM MST, Ryne Nelson (ARI) vs Michael King (SDP).

• Ryne Nelson. 5 GS, 20.2 IP, 1 W-2 L, 6.97 ERA, 5.02 FIP, 1.45 WHIP, 20/9 K/BB.
• Michael King. 5 GS, 27.2 IP, 3 W-1 L, 2.28 ERA, 3.67 FIP, 1.12 WHIP, 26/14 K/BB.

Michael King has been leading the Padres to 3 wins in 5 of his outings, so on the outside his performance looks terrific with that 2.28 ERA. However, his command hasn’t been terrific and he has been allowing quite some base on balls, though that isn’t really a surprise with Michael King, but it hasn’t come back to hurt him so far. His change-up has always been one of his better pitches, especially in 2025 when it carried him through the season, but this season it has lost some its effectiveness. However, his breaking balls are getting the job done at the moment.

After hopeful outings against the Mets and Baltimore, his outing against Toronto was a day to forget for Ryne. So let’s not talk about that one and hope he can find his groove in an exciting, though pitching wise difficult, environment.