Spring Training Gameday Thread, #19: 3/19 vs. Brewers

Diamondbacks line-up

1. Ketel Marte, CF
2. Tim Locastro, RF
3. Josh Rojas, SS
4. Christian Walker, 1B
5. Josh VanMeter, 2B
6. Carson Kelly, C
7. Daulton Varsho, LF
8. Wyatt Mathisen, 3B
9. LHP Caleb Smith,
   + RHP Anthony Swarzak, LHP Ryan Buchter, RHP Yoan López, RHP Tyler Clippard

Firstly, thanks to Jack for stepping in to do last night’s recap. It was one of the few occasions where work had to take precedence, and I didn’t even get to take lunch (my usual recap break!) at a decent time. Today is... looking better. With that out of the way, figured I should take a look at the latest stats. Ketel is still leading the team’s on offense, with a 1.429 OPS. However, a recent surge has pushed Asdrubal Cabreta (1.093) into second, with Rohas and Peralta also above a thousand. At the other end, Varsho (.490) continues to struggle, with Kelly (.545) and Leyba (.555) also still to warm up.

On the mound, Chris Devenski leads the list of those with zero ERAs, having tossed five scoreless with four K’s. Surprisingly, Joe Mantiply is next, with 4.2 IP and six strikeouts, and Taylor Guilbeau had four scoreless and two K’s. Zac Gallen’s 2.13 ERA leads the starters, with Madison Bumgarner coming in at 3.00, although in fewer than half the Cactus League innings. Merrill Kelly getting lit-up has sent his ERA to nine, with 13 hits including three homers in nine innings. Corbin Martin (8.10) and Luke Weaver (7.20) have also had their share of issues to overcome.

Torey Lovullo notes

• No injury news or testing updates. Day off for Nick Ahmed, who got through day yesterday very well. Ketel Marte back in lineup. He could have played yesterday, but they didn’t feel the need to push it
• Torey enjoys having lineup flexibility and he enjoys being creative and it’s like a game of chess to him. He does not find it to be overly challenging, it’s how his mind works. But he doesn’t want to overcomplicate things or ask guys to do things they’re not used to doing. That’s what they are working on in spring training
• Caleb Smith has had a Rocky Spring. Torey would like to see him “Establish his pitches from the get go. He works into the outing a little bit and we see that pitch count climb a little bit early on. We know the reasons why. We know that it’s spring training. You gotta bring that focus…. to each start with each outing”. The main focus is on his efficiency an controlling his pitch counts and following a “pitch plan”
• Torey also made clear it he felt it would take an injury to one of the top 5 designated starters for the rotation plans to change. (Bumgarner/Gallen/Weaver/Kelly/Smith) That means that the two Taylor’s, Clarke and Widener, and Alex Young, will either be in the bullpen or starting in Reno.
• With regards to how the new guys such as Smith or Soria are taking to some of the data info that is provided by Mike Fitzgerald and his team. Each pitcher gets a gameplan and they all have established their contacts internally and reached out. There is a process and it takes a bit of time for everyone to get to know each other.
• For those actually listening to the audio and keeping score at home, we have two “Game Plans”, and a “Pitch Plan”. I’ve determined these are then worth 2 1/2 shots after the game tonight, (or today if day drinking works into your schedule)

Torey Lovullo audio [or link]

Game coverage