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Diamondbacks line-up
- David Peralta, RF
- Josh Rojas, SS
- Christian Walker, DH
- Eduardo Escobar, 3B
- Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B
- Carson Kelly, C
- Daulton Varsho, CF
- Trayce Thompson, RF
- Pavin Smith, 1B
+ RHP Zac Gallen, RHP Joakim Soria, RHP Riley Smith, RHP Keury Mella
One new injury to report, with first-base coach Dave McKay having fallen in the dugout. He broke a rib and lacerated his spleen, which sounds like not very much fun at all. He had a procedure to cauterize the spleen. He is doing fine, but will be out at least a week. He actually said he was fine initially and came to work the next day, but then needed treatment. Gil Velazquez will replace him temporarily. It should be no issue getting him back and ready for the start of the season: still, he turns 71 on Sunday, so caution makes sense.
There were also seven roster moves announced by the team this morning,
Optioned to Triple-A Reno:
- RHP Jeremy Beasley
- RHP Humberto Castellanos
- RHP Luis Frías
- RHP Humberto Mejía
- INF/OF Andrew Young
Reassigned to Minor League camp:
- LHP Tyler Gilbert
- C Jamie Ritchie
I think Andrew Young is probably the biggest name on the list, or at least the one who had the best chance of making the Opening Day roster. But as noted yesterday, the infield utility spot currently seems to be Josh Rojas’s to lose, and Young’s 10 strikeouts in 16 at-bats seems to suggest a problem, small sample size be damned.
Despite optimistic noises to the contrary, still no Nick Ahmed in the line-up this afternoon. There’s a media call with Ahmed scheduled for 1 pm. Pardon me if this all feels a little bit ominous, but we’ll see what develops. And this afternoon’s game is on Fox Sports Arizona, so tune in there!
Other Lovullo notes
- Tim Locastro should return to lineup tomorrow. Completing protocol with some cardio tests. Torey hopes/expects him to play on Saturday.
- Nick Ahmed still out of lineup, sounded like we might see him out a couple more days as they want to give extra time to heal for the long term.
- Short stop reps for Ahmed’s backups are down to Ketel Marte, Josh Rojas, and Domingo Leyba. Based on Torey’s comments it seems clear priority is for Ketel to play CF, and also with the reps we are seeing for Rojas, it seems he is the clear favorite for the primary backup SS.
- Andrew Young was sent down today because his spring wasn’t very production and the results weren’t there. Specifically there was a little to much chase inside his AB’s. Defensively he looked fine on the infield. He needs more consistent reps in the outfield, and it’s not fair to judge a couple of missed balls in the outfield as he wasn’t given much practice time out there. He’ll get more outfield reps going forward in minor league camp.