Zac Gallen is recovering from shoulder bursitis, opening day in question

Diamondbacks Manager Torey Lovullo gave his first press conference today, speaking for 25 minutes. Within that time he revealed that Zac Gallen was feeling shoulder discomfort during his off season throwing program. Unable to work with team doctors he had an MRI on his own, and that revealed Bursitis in the shoulder. That link mentions “impingement syndrome”, which apparently can lead to rotator cuff tears if not allowed to heal properly.

Torey said that Zac would be throwing a bullpen thursday, and that he is behind in his progression. He stopped short of saying he would miss opening day, but this is not the way you want things to start.

In other news:

• Ketel Marte did not participate in workouts today. Ketel , who was wearing thick black Ricky Vaughn glasses, said that he scratched his eye due to debris getting in his contacts. Torey said he had an eye infection before coming to camp. But neither Torey or Ketel felt it was serious, and he should be good to participate in workouts tomorrow.
• Ketel feels that whatever position they ask him to play this year, he hopes he can stay in one position for the entire year. He feels that will help him stay healthier. The team gave him some special exercise workout routines in November to help him avoid hamstring injuries.
• Mark Melancon and Edwin Uceta are late reporting to camp, due to international travel issues.
• I asked my annual Spring question of Madison Bumgarner. How is the changeup coming along? He laughed and said just like usual, he had it for a while during his off season throwing program, but now it’s disappeared again.
• Bum grunted his way through a bullpen today. He seemed fine, although there were some balls in the dirt and one to the backstop. Shaking off that rust. This one was a strike though.

• Thursday’s opening spring training game will be played with all minor league players. They’ve been in camp for over three weeks and are further along of course. Torey wouldn’t commit to a specific date that MLB camp players will play in spring games, but it won’t be thursday.
• Merrill Kelly, Caleb Smith, and Joe Mantiply threw live BP today to many of the primary hitters. They all looked pretty good. Lots of strikeouts, and weak contact.

Torey Lovullo Media Session

Ketel Marte Interview

Madison Bumgarner Interview