Gabriel Moreno DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno will retreat to the bench in the second game of the season on Friday against the visiting Chicago Cubs. Backup Jose Herrera will make the start behind the dish and will bat ninth against Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon at Chase Field. Moreno had a nice Opening Day showing in the loss on Thursday, going 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. The 25-year-old should be back in the lineup on Saturday. Herrera, 28, hit .227/.290/.320 with a career-best .609 OPS, his first career home run and 13 RBI in 42 games played for the D-backs in his third year with the team in 2024 as a backup catcher. He's a defense-first catcher and should be avoided in DFS lineups on Friday. Herrera has never faced Taillon in his career.

Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno (groin) is doing the catching and is hitting eighth in the batting order on Tuesday versus the division-rival San Francisco Giants and right-hander Logan Webb at Chase Field for the second game of the series. Moreno didn't play in the series-opening loss to the Giants on Monday after he was removed from Sunday's contest against the Milwaukee Brewers with left-groin tightness. The Diamondbacks need all hands on deck as they try to secure a wild-card spot in the National League in the final week of the regular season, so the 24-year-old backstop is back in action. The Venezuelan catcher has gone 6-for-15 (.400) with an RBI and four walks in six games since returning from the IL, but he faces a tough matchup against Webb on Tuesday. In 11 career at-bats against Webb, Moreno is hitting .364 with a .728 OPS.

Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno (groin) appears to have avoided a major injury after exiting early during Sunday's game. It looks like Moreno had a setback with a groin injury that he suffered last month. Luckily, the MRI came back clean and Moreno should be able to rejoin the lineup on Tuesday. That is great news for the D-Backs who thought they might be without Moreno for the rest of the regular season. Jose Herrera will do the catching and bat ninth versus right-hander Hayden Birdsong. Herrera is hitting .221 with 13 RBI on the season, so he'll be an avoidable fantasy option for Monday's slate.