There are a lot of questions surrounding the Arizona Diamondbacks and how they set up their roster down the stretch. Appearing onBurns and Gambo in his weekly Friday appearance, manager Torey Lovullo had a lot to discuss.
Merrill Kelly and the starting rotation
Lovullo pretty much all but revealed that Merrill Kelly will start Sunday’s series finale against the Phillies. This was before Kelly’s bullpen session, but all moves seem to be lining up as such. The veteran right-hander will be on a strict pitch count of 75-80 pitches on Sunday.
As for how that will impact the starting rotation, those decisions have yet to be made.
“We haven’t figured that out yet.We have some really tough decisions.Every time we get down into this territory and we have to make these tough decisions, it means we’re a good organization.I say it every single time and I know you guys wish I could give you more.We have been trying to figure out how to make this decision that’s going to help us win as many games as possible.That’s the bottom line.”
Even after Nelson’s outstanding outing against the Phillies Friday night, Lovullo has yet to commit a rotation spot for the improving right-hander. Nelson’s spot comes up next on August 16 in Tampa. However, the team has indicated they prefer using a five-man rotation moving forward.
It will be interesting to see who they choose to remain in the rotation between Nelson and Jordan Montgomery.
Catching situation with Gabriel Moreno on the IL
The Diamondbacks await the return of Gabriel Moreno from a groin strain. Moreno is looking at second opinions but will be out for weeks. Lovullo maintains optimism that his catcher will return before the end of the regular season.
Adrian Del Castillo has done a good job of filling in for his first two games. He’s already made his presence with the bat known, collecting four hits and walking off the Phillies with his first major league home run Friday. His defense has been relatively unnoticeable, which means his receiving is relatively crisp, he’s blocking the balls in the dirt, and his game-calling has been solid. That’s about as good a compliment you give a young catcher.
As for the playing time situation behind the plate, Lovullo stated it’s going to be a 50/50 split between José Herrera and Del Castillo.
“We’re going to let Del Castillo get his feet under him a little bit. He can do some things offensively. We like his approach offensively, and he’s been doing a great job defensively with player development. And we saw that show up in his first start the other day. So the bottom line, we like where we’re at with our depth, and I think we’re going to be in a good spot until Gabi finds his way back to us.”
In the first five games without Moreno, Herrera has three starts and Del Castillo two.
Closer role
The Diamondbacks still have to figure out their closer role. Paul Sewald was removed from the closer role following a disastrous month of July. In the 10 days since, they’ve turned to Ryan Thompson, A.J. Puk, and Justin Martinez and have gotten varying results. It hasn’t cost them any games over that stretch, but there will come a time that it will if the issue goes unaddressed.
Lovullo said the closer situation is fluid and between a group of guys based off the matchups. He named Thompson, Puk, and Martinez as their top options. Martinez has gotten the more recent opportunities in typical closer situations, getting a ninth-inning save opportunity on Wednesday and pitching the top of the ninth on Friday. He gritted through a wobbly appearance against Cleveland but looked solid against the Phillies. Lovullo acknowledged those are tough situations to put a 23-year-old rookie through.
The Diamondbacks’ top two options for the ninth inning will be to either give the ball to Sewald or Martinez. The bullpen doesn’t set up as well if they have to turn to anyone else. Lovullo was asked about how Sewald has progressed since getting demoted.
Yeah, I think he’s had two of the three outings. All three outings have been good. It’s been basically a shutdown inning. The last outing, I think he was missing with his fastball. Prior to that, the prior two outings, and I threw him back-to-back in Pittsburgh, both were really, really good.”
Should Sewald or Martinez emerge as the go-to closer down the stretch, that should resolve a potential fatal flaw for the club.
This article first appeared on Burn City Sports and was syndicated with permission.
