Diamondbacks vs. Marlins Pregame Notes — April 15, 2023
Diamondbacks Manager Torey Lovullo
Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo spoke to the assembled media Saturday afternoon before the game with the Miami Marlins. Here are the highlights.
Injury Updates
Zach Davies and Carson Kelly are both still in the “treatment phase” of their injury recovery. Lovullo could not remember for certain what grade the oblique strain was, although he was sure it was “more than a one.” Kelly is playing catch and doing some leg work. He’ll be able to do light baseball activities starting next week. It will be several weeks before Davies and Kelly return.
Joe Mantiply is throwing another rehab outing tonight in Amarillo and will get 30 pitches. No definite word on his return to the big-league roster yet, but it will be soon.
Madison Bumgarner Update
Madison Bumgarner was vague about something that was ailing him during his postgame interview Friday night. The way he spoke about it, it sounded like it was physical. Lovullo did not have anything to report or share on it. However, he did say it was “nothing more than what I feel like are the common aches and pains.” Lovullo also mentioned the “fatigue factor” that the team checked out in Phoenix after his start in Los Angeles. He said that if it was a “mistake” to have Bumgarner throw over 100 pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers, “it was on me.”
There are no plans to have Bumgarner go an extra day between starts or to pull him from the rotation. “If you add everything up yesterday, there were four scoreless innings,” Lovullo said. “And I felt like he threw the ball well enough.” What gives Lovullo hope that Bumgarner’s next start will be better? “I feel like he was throwing some pitches arm side, moving the ball around the zone. Was maybe a little less predictable. I had a chance to look at some of the pitches and review some of the data. He was shuffling the deck a little bit. I think at times it becomes a little one-dimensional glove side. And I think he did a good job of making pitches in different areas in different quadrants of the zone.”
The Starting Pitchers
Ryne Nelson
Ryne Nelson got the win in his last outing, which came against the Los Angeles Dodgers at home on April 9. Lovullo expects “a lot of the same stuff” from Nelson. He elaborated, “(Nelson) can move the fastball around the zone, can spin the breaking ball, change speeds front to back. I think he’s in a good spot. Each start has gotten better. We want that to continue to be the norm for him. A lot of things need to fall into place for young pitchers to get this opportunity. He earned it and doesn’t need to show us anymore other than what his strengths are and what he can do to compete every fifth day.”
Marlins Starter Braxton Garrett
Lovullo revealed some keys to defeat Braxton Garrett, who has never faced the Diamondbacks. “We got to be patient, wait him out a little bit. Make him throw strikes, make him get around the zone. I don’t know what to expect, so I want to put it on us. Want us to have our game plan, go do what we can do best, put pressure on him, and apply what we’re good at every at-bat. Go make something good happen. But bottom line is, get the ball in the zone that we’re looking for and not chase. That’s the key against him today.”
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