Zack Godley to start for Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday night, Silvino Bracho optioned

His removal from the scheduled Triple- A outing immediately flagged him as the most likely candidate as a replacement for Shelby Miller in the Diamondbacks’ rotation. He was then around the D-backs clubhouse today, with the team saying he was part of the “taxi squad”, allowing him to take part in workouts without being present on the bench. Rather than being a direct replacement for Miller, whose next start would not be due until Friday, the team appears to be looking to keep Zack Godley on something closer to his normal rest. He’ll pitch on Wednesday, with everyone else then dropping back a day, e.g. Taijuan Walker on Thursday and Robbie Ray on Friday.

We’ll be hoping for rather better from Godley than his last major-league start, on August 27 last year. It lasted only two innings and resulted in nine earned runs in what turned into a 13-0 blowout loss to the Reds. It was the second-worst outing by Game Score from any starting pitcher for Arizona last year, surpassing only Zack Greinke’s nightmare in Fenway Park. Indeed, Godley’s ERA over his nine starts last season was a hefty 7.31. His numbers this season in Reno have been better: a 2.55 ERA, and he was named PCL Pitcher of the Week last week, after tossing seven shutout innings of one-hit ball. But his K:BB of 159 in 17.2 innings is a bit concerning.

Still, allowing him to start tomorrow means he will get to make his 2017 major-league debut against the weak offense of the Padres, and will also miss the Rockies over the weekend. His next start could conceivably come on May 2 in Washington, though the team could also opt to skip him due to the off-day Monday. Though that would then line him up for a start in Coors Field instead. We’ll see how Torey Lovullo ends up playing it.

Another bit of news, is that Lovullo said Archie Bradley will retain his current role: "For right now, he's going to stay in the bullpen." I imagine the team might try to stay away from using Bradley this evening, so that he would be available in the event of Godley struggling early tomorrow night. The manager also stated the team was still gathering and processing information in regard to Shelby Miller’s longer-term situation, and won’t have a decision on that until tomorrow. The expected duration of his absence will then likely inform whether Godley is anointed as a semi-permanent replacement, or if they opt to stretch Bradley out instead.

Update. After Tuesday night’s game at Chase Field, the team announced the unsurprising news that Silvino Bracho had been optioned to Reno to make way for Godley on the 25-man roster.