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Team news

[AZ Central] Ahmed hoping to avoid injury - Nick Ahmed is wearing padded wrist guards during his at-bats this spring. He also has begun to wear a face guard that connects to his batting helmet. Ahmed says the extra precautions stem from the fact that injuries are doubly bad in that they’re harmful to both the player and the team. “We all do the other stuff – the hydration, the nutrition, the training,” Ahmed said. “You might as well do some stuff for injuries that are preventable to a certain degree. There are still going to be some freak things you can’t protect yourself from, but hopefully the little things you can avoid, we’re all going to try to do.”

[Arizona Sports] D-backs' CEO Derrick Hall: Pitcher Patrick Corbin 'vital' to rotation - Hall also said that Archie Bradley will “definitely” remain in the bullpen this year. His role is uncertain, but Hall said management has talked about avoiding bullpen labels and assignments. They want to decide based on situation, not inning. “It becomes just as vital in the seventh inning to shut them down, especially the middle of the order, than it does in the ninth inning when you may have a three-run lead by then and you’re going to be facing seven, eight, nine in their order,” Hall said.

[The Athletic] Sarris: Did the Diamondbacks get lucky last year? – [subscription required] - There might be some evidence that there's something mucking up the works when it comes to projecting the Diamondbacks. They've missed their projections by an average of 12.5 games in the last five years, and only the Rangers have been more volatile. No other team missed their projections by more than 8.5 games on average, so they are perhaps outliers. But the reason for this unpredictability is not clear. As much as we know that team projections are full of noise in general, it now looks like they are specifically even worse when it comes to the Diamondbacks.

[dbacks.com] D-backs' Jimmie Sherfy makes impact in bullpen - Pitching into late September for the first time in his career, Sherfy did not modify his workout program, which included a lot of dry mound work where he simulates throwing without a ball. With 10 days left to go in the regular season, he began to feel some tightness in his triceps and was almost left off the postseason roster. "I would say I just need to work smarter," Sherfy said. "Just obviously less dry work and I think a lot more visualization this year." Sherfy has experienced some shoulder fatigue this spring, so he has yet to get into a Cactus League game. "We're just going to back off and give him a little bit of rest," Lovullo said. "We have a great medical team. They just recommended we give him some time down."

[Arizona Sports] D-backs bullpen: Boxberger dealing with soreness, Sherfy fatigued - Diamondbacks pitcher Brad Boxberger’s “general soreness” in his right arm kept him out of his scheduled spring training appearance Tuesday, manager Torey Lovullo said. Boxberger hasn’t seen game action since Feb. 23. He threw a bullpen session Thursday and has another scheduled for Sunday. The medical staff is relying on what the pitcher tells it. “It just made a lot of sense for him to give us input and then we’re going to just go with what he normally does throughout the course of the spring,” Lovullo said.

[AZ Big Media] FOX Sports Arizona will televise 159 D-backs games - All broadcasts will also be streamed on the FOX Sports GO app and 25 games will be offered in a Spanish telecast on FOX Sports Arizona Plus. In addition to 159 games on FOX Sports Arizona or FOX Sports Arizona Plus, there are exclusive national telecasts on FOX (June 9 at Colorado), FS1 (June 26 at Miami) and ESPN (May 13 vs Washington). The FOX and FS1 broadcasts also stream on FOX Sports GO. As previously announced, there are 10 Spring Training games televised on FOX Sports Arizona and FOX Sports Arizona Plus.

[ABC15] New D-backs 2018 regular season menu - - Arizona, meet the Diamondbacks' newest addition to the regular season rotation, the ASADA DOG. An 18-inch Schreiner's hot dog is coated in Monterrey jack cheese sauce and dressed up with loads of carne asada, Pico de Gallo, fresh guacamole and a boat-load of fries. ALL on a Talera hot dog bun. This ballpark beast will be available at Big Dawgs. Every season the D-backs attempt to outdo last year's menu and this might be 2018's concession champion. STEAK AND ALE TOTS. A bed of crisp tater tots is painted with Kilt Lifter pub queso and topped with a storm of hearty Philly Ribeye, chive cream, mushrooms and onions. You will find this All-Star snack at Taste of Chase.

And, elsewhere

[New York Times] Fernando Rodney, Nearing 41 as a Minnesota Twin, Embraces Another New Home - Rodney is the oldest player on any 40-man roster this spring training. He signed his first professional contract in late 1997, for $3,000 with Detroit, and then left the Dominican Republic for spring training in Lakeland, Fla. After two years, he was assigned to a Class A team in Grand Rapids, Mich., where the average low temperature in April is 38 degrees. Rodney was miserable. “I said to him, ‘Hey, the cold’s mental, man,’ ” said Ramon Santiago, Rodney’s roommate then and a Tigers coach now. “He said: ‘Mental? It’s not mental, it’s cold!’ ”

[Baseball America] WBSC Proposes New Street Baseball Game - In an attempt to help spread baseball further around the world, the World Baseball/Softball Confederation has unveiled the rules for a new version of baseball called “Baseball5.” The idea of Baseball5 is to make baseball accessible for everyone, no matter where they live and no matter what equipment they have. Baseball5 doesn’t require a large field-the entire field takes less than 70 feet, and it can be played on a paved surface. The other key feature of Baseball5 is that it requires no equipment other than a rubber ball. No bats and no gloves are allowed.

[KTAR] House owned by former D-Back Matt Williams hits market for 9.5M - Former Diamondbacks third baseman and third base coach Matt Williams put his Paradise Valley home on sale for $9.5 million. The house, located off Scottsdale and Camelback roads, features eight bedrooms, nine bathrooms, three fireplaces and a seven-car garage. The two-plus acre lot holds the 14,600-square-foot mansion and the 600-square-foot guest house. The complex comes with a double-gated driveway entrance, a movie theater, a pool, a hot tub and a pool house. Not to mention the stone flooring, extravagant chandeliers and marble detail throughout the property.