{"id":44751,"date":"2021-03-19T01:06:35","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T05:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=44751"},"modified":"2021-03-19T01:06:35","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T05:06:35","slug":"diamondbacks-spring-training-20210318-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2021\/03\/19\/diamondbacks-spring-training-20210318-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona Diamondbacks Spring Training 2021 Notes: March 18"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arizona Diamondbacks Spring Training Notes for March 18, 2021<\/strong><\/h2>\n

News from Arizona Diamondbacks spring training with 13 days left before Opening Day\u2026<\/p>\n

Diamondbacks Spring Training Health\/Injury Updates<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shortstop Nick Ahmed appeared in Thursday\u2019s game, a seven-inning, 7-7 tie against the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>. Pre-game, manager Torey Lovullo said he\u2019s done a great job keeping himself in baseball shape. Lovullo ended that answer by saying, \u201cSuper-excited that he\u2019s back in the lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right fielder Kole Calhoun took swings in the cage Tuesday and is \u201clooking very good.\u201d They\u2019re not sure when he\u2019ll land back in the lineup, but it won\u2019t 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\u2019s paying more attention to the defensive aspect, especially \u201clittle things\u201d that coaches see but television viewers often either can\u2019t see or don\u2019t see. One example he cited of a \u201clittle thing\u201d that helped the team was \u201cDaulton Varsho running down the right field line, knocking down 90 feet, and (limiting) a potential double to a single.\u201d<\/p>\n

First base coach Dave McKay is \u201ccontinuing to rest, heal, and battle through the frustrations\u201d of not being with the team. \u201cIt\u2019s tearing him up that he\u2019s not out here.\u201d The timeline for his return is still unknown. He has a doctor visit Thursday night. Lovullo said his return is \u201cgoing to happen, but we\u2019re not going to rush that. We\u2019re going to make sure we\u2019re putting his health first.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Beginning of the Season<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cthe schedule has definitely dealt us a challenge, but we\u2019ve talked about challenges all spring training.\u201d They\u2019ve talked about \u201cembracing and accepting\u201d whatever challenge there is. It has allowed Lovullo to reiterate his expectations of \u201cadaptability and being able to overcome\u201d obstacles. One motto he preaches is \u201cToday is going to be our finest day.\u201d Lovullo feels that the tough early schedule will prepare them for a \u201ctough and rugged NL West.\u201d It can also lead to a team jelling more if you go on the road early.<\/p>\n

The Relief Corps<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Lovullo and the rest of the staff are still finalizing the bullpen. \u201cI haven\u2019t gone as far as really digging into who will be our closer. I\u2019m going to throw them all into the back end.\u201d Joakim Soria has been \u201cvery good with getting a feel for the strike zone with his fastball, (and) the secondary stuff is coming along.\u201d 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 \u201cinside the back end,\u201d but still has not made a final decision as to where exactly.<\/p>\n

There is \u201ctough competition\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

They also might steer away from having one definitive closer. The \u201cfireman\u201d role still might happen this year as well, along the lines of Goose Gossage\/Rollie Fingers\/Sparky Lyle. \u201cBaseball 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\u2019m not going to force a round peg into a square hole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Player Notes from Diamondbacks Spring Training<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Merrill Kelly<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cIt was fun\u201d for Kelly to get a hit Thursday. \u201cIt was way better than striking out, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d 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\u2019t 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, \u201cYou just sandbagged me.\u201d Kelly continued, \u201cIt was a pretty good pitch down and away, and he put a pretty good swing on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly \u201cfeels pretty good\u201d about his pitching so far but is not where he\u2019d like to be. \u201cI\u2019m still in that excited mode, just to be back and be in spring training.\u201d Everything \u201cslowed down a bit\u201d in the fourth inning and he was able to focus better. He feels that as they \u201ckeep going along, it\u2019ll feel more like business as usual.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick Ahmed<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ahmed said that \u201cit felt good to return\u201d and that he \u201cenjoyed competing again.\u201d It didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

Postgame Reflections<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Lovullo said that Kelly \u201cmade some mistakes\u201d but recovered well. To him, Nick Ahmed \u201clooked great. It\u2019s a credit to how he\u2019s working behind the scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diamondbacks hit some balls hard today, which was nice to see after the one-hit performance last night. \u201cThere was some good, hard, loud contact throughout the game today.\u201d No one spot in the lineup stood out to Lovullo \u2014 it was \u201cup and down the lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were some defensive \u201cmiscues,\u201d but that\u2019s why spring training exists. \u201cWe\u2019ll tighten those things up,\u201d 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 \u201cnot hanging your head\u201d after a defensive miscue, and Lovullo said this was one example. There was no injury on the play.<\/p>\n

Kevin Ginkel was supposed to pitch Wednesday night but didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

Main Photo:<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>