Arizona Diamondbacks Spring Training Notes for March 18, 2021
News from Arizona Diamondbacks spring training with 13 days left before Opening Day…
Diamondbacks Spring Training Health/Injury Updates
Shortstop Nick Ahmed appeared in Thursday’s game, a seven-inning, 7-7 tie against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Pre-game, manager Torey Lovullo said he’s done a great job keeping himself in baseball shape. Lovullo ended that answer by saying, “Super-excited that he’s back in the lineup.”
Right fielder Kole Calhoun took swings in the cage Tuesday and is “looking very good.” They’re not sure when he’ll land back in the lineup, but it won’t be until after Opening Day. Potential replacements include Tim Locastro and Pavin Smith. Lovullo knows the offense will come and go no matter who is out there, so he’s paying more attention to the defensive aspect, especially “little things” that coaches see but television viewers often either can’t see or don’t see. One example he cited of a “little thing” that helped the team was “Daulton Varsho running down the right field line, knocking down 90 feet, and (limiting) a potential double to a single.”
First base coach Dave McKay is “continuing to rest, heal, and battle through the frustrations” of not being with the team. “It’s tearing him up that he’s not out here.” The timeline for his return is still unknown. He has a doctor visit Thursday night. Lovullo said his return is “going to happen, but we’re not going to rush that. We’re going to make sure we’re putting his health first.”
The Beginning of the Season
The Opening Day starter is still up in the air. Some teams have already decided; the Diamondbacks will decide in the final days of spring training.
The schedule opens with four games in San Diego, three games in Colorado where it will probably be cold, a five-game homestand, then the road again for a 12-day swing to the East Coast. Torey said that “the schedule has definitely dealt us a challenge, but we’ve talked about challenges all spring training.” They’ve talked about “embracing and accepting” whatever challenge there is. It has allowed Lovullo to reiterate his expectations of “adaptability and being able to overcome” obstacles. One motto he preaches is “Today is going to be our finest day.” Lovullo feels that the tough early schedule will prepare them for a “tough and rugged NL West.” It can also lead to a team jelling more if you go on the road early.
The Relief Corps
Lovullo and the rest of the staff are still finalizing the bullpen. “I haven’t gone as far as really digging into who will be our closer. I’m going to throw them all into the back end.” Joakim Soria has been “very good with getting a feel for the strike zone with his fastball, (and) the secondary stuff is coming along.” Soria has a process he follows every spring, and this methodical approach reminds Lovullo of the approach Zack Greinke takes in the spring. Lovullo said that Soria will be “inside the back end,” but still has not made a final decision as to where exactly.
There is “tough competition” for the remaining roles in the relief corps. The structure is still being finalized. Lovullo and the rest of the coaching staff is going to see how some guys perform over the next few days before making a decision.
They also might steer away from having one definitive closer. The “fireman” role still might happen this year as well, along the lines of Goose Gossage/Rollie Fingers/Sparky Lyle. “Baseball traditions are changing. I love the traditions, but I have to adapt to what best suits the team and what is going to help us win a baseball game. We just need to collect outs on the end of the game. I want the best matchups for the best guys to go out and have success, and I’m not going to force a round peg into a square hole.”
Player Notes from Diamondbacks Spring Training
Merrill Kelly
“It was fun” for Kelly to get a hit Thursday. “It was way better than striking out, that’s for sure,” he said. Dodgers pitcher David Price also had a couple of solid plate appearances. Price asked Kelly Thursday morning via text message if Kelly was going to hit. Price hadn’t swung all camp and had only been bunting. When Price singled in the second inning, Kelly tried to make eye contact with him and say, “You just sandbagged me.” Kelly continued, “It was a pretty good pitch down and away, and he put a pretty good swing on it.”
Kelly “feels pretty good” about his pitching so far but is not where he’d like to be. “I’m still in that excited mode, just to be back and be in spring training.” Everything “slowed down a bit” in the fourth inning and he was able to focus better. He feels that as they “keep going along, it’ll feel more like business as usual.”
Nick Ahmed
Ahmed said that “it felt good to return” and that he “enjoyed competing again.” It didn’t feel to him like he missed much time at all. He currently has no physical issues at all and feels there is plenty of time left before the regular season for him to get enough at-bats in to get his rhythm back. The medical staff has told him that the ailment is tendonitis in his right patellar tendon.
Postgame Reflections
Lovullo said that Kelly “made some mistakes” but recovered well. To him, Nick Ahmed “looked great. It’s a credit to how he’s working behind the scenes.”
Diamondbacks hit some balls hard today, which was nice to see after the one-hit performance last night. “There was some good, hard, loud contact throughout the game today.” No one spot in the lineup stood out to Lovullo — it was “up and down the lineup.”
There were some defensive “miscues,” but that’s why spring training exists. “We’ll tighten those things up,” Lovullo said. One miscue came from Eduardo Escobar, who took a hard shot off his wrist on a ground ball. He shook it off and started a nice 5-4-3 double play two plays later. The team talks about “not hanging your head” after a defensive miscue, and Lovullo said this was one example. There was no injury on the play.
Kevin Ginkel was supposed to pitch Wednesday night but didn’t due to a mix-up on the game length. He worked the sixth inning on Thursday instead. In that inning, he pitched around a leadoff single by Mookie Betts. With one out, he got Justin Turner to ground into the aforementioned 5-4-3 double play.
Main Photo:
Players/managers mentioned:
Nick Ahmed, Torey Lovullo, Kole Calhoun, Tim Locastro, Pavin Smith, Daulton Varsho, Dave McKay, Joakim Soria, Zack Greinke, Goose Gossage, Rollie Fingers, Sparky Lyle, Merrill Kelly, David Price, Eduardo Escobar, Kevin Ginkel, Mookie Betts, Justin Turner
