On Deck: What to look for during Astros/Diamondbacks

With one road series in the books, the Astros travel to Phoenix for a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks of the NL West. Here are some things to watch as the Astros duel with the D-backs in the desert.

1. Greinke's return

Before being acquired by the Astros during last year's trade deadline, pitcher Zack Greinke spent three and a half years playing for Arizona, pitching a respectable 3.90 average ERA across those seasons, making the playoffs once in 2017. Combined with his time as a Los Angeles Dodger, Greinke knows Chase Field well.

His start on Thursday will mark his first start in Arizona since being traded to Houston. None of the players involved on Houston's side of the deal will be available for the series (Josh Rojas, Seth Beer and J.B. Bukauskas are at the D-backs' alternate training site, while Corbin Martin is currently on the 10-day injured list), so Greinke will be the only player reuniting with his old team. He will slot against right-hander Zac Gallen.

After experiencing fatigue in his first start of the year, Greinke showed much better results and was perfect through five innings in his last start. He will hope to improve upon that start and maintain his success in his return to Arizona, as well as pick up his first win of the year.

2. Javier's second start

Young right-handed prospect Christian Javier was sensational in his spot start against the Dodgers, holding the reigning NL West champions to a single run across 6.2 innings. His emergence was huge for a team in desperate need of effective arms in light of the slew of injuries among the pitching staff.

Javier will attempt to impress again in his second major league start against another NL West opponent. While there aren't a lot of other lineups that compare to the Dodgers, the Diamondbacks still pose a formidable challenge for the young righty. Ketel Marte is one of the best contact hitters in baseball. He bats in tandem with hardened veterans Jon Jay and Kole Calhoun, who are far from easy outs. While there isn't a ton of power mixed among the roster, a few home run hitters exist in the form of Eduardo Escobar and Christian Walker.

Watching Javier navigate through his second start, in which the opposing team will have actual film to watch on him, will be a good test for the young pitcher looking to become a mainstay on the primary roster.

3. Continued 4-5-6 success

The Astros' top of the order struggles are well-documented, but what people have been missing are how good the middle of the batting order has been for Houston. Michael Brantley, Yuli Gurriel, and Carlos Correa have been sparks for a team that has otherwise had issues with stringing together hits.

Brantley is hitting an exceptional .438 through nine games, and leads the team in on-base plus slugging percentage with 1.170. Not far behind him is Carlos Correa, who's batting .333 and is second on the team in hits. Gurriel is batting .294 and is seeing the ball exceptionally well, as he's tied for second best on the team with the lowest amount of strikeouts, recording only five K's on the young season.

The top of the order hasn't gotten on base much, but when they have, the success of the middle of the order has shown out and come through, which is why the Astros are second in the league in average runs per game. Maintaining this pace will be key for when the big bats at the top starting producing again, and will only be that much more of a good thing when Yordan Álvarez returns to the lineup.