RHP Archie Bradley reminded: ‘I’m not invincible’

Dominant reliever roughed up in Saturday’s loss to KC

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Archie Bradley isn’t heading into the postseason on a high note. The Diamondbacks’ most dominant reliever throughout the season has given up five runs on nine hits and three walks in four innings over his past three appearances.

Bradley gave up the go-ahead homer in the sixth inning on Saturday night to the Royals’ Jorge Bonifacio, who drove a 1-2 fastball clocked at 98 mph out to left field at Kauffman Stadium.

“I felt good,” Bradley said. “Velocity was there, just wasn’t really executing pitches.”

The Diamondbacks have been giving Bradley extended appearances as a way to prepare him for the postseason, when they expect to ask him to go multiple innings more often than he did during the regular season. He’s thrown 38 and 37 pitches in his past two outings but has recorded just five and four outs, respectively.

“For me it’s just a reminder that I’m not invincible,” Bradley said. “Guys can hit pitches. Guys are going to hit pitches out of the park. And, so, with the type of games we’re playing and the type of situations I’m going to be pitching in, I’m just going to have to make better pitches.”

Peralta sits with neck/back tightness

Outfielder David Peralta, who left Saturday’s game after six innings due to tightness in his neck and back, was out of the lineup on Sunday, but manager Torey Lovullo said he has no concerns about Peralta’s availability for Wednesday’s wild-card game against the Colorado Rockies.

Peralta woke up Saturday morning dealing with stiffness but was able to play after receiving treatment during the day. The tightness popped up again during the game, particularly after he dived for a Lorenzo Cain single in the of the sixth.

“We’ve all had those moments pop up where you have a bad night’s rest where you wake up with a stiff neck or a stiff back,” Lovullo said. “I think the dive yesterday maybe banged him up a little bit more.”

He added: “If he had to play, he could. The doctors felt like it was the best idea to give him time off.”

Sherfy looking unlikely for wild-card game

Right-hander Jimmie Sherfy played what looked like a light game of catch on the field on Sunday afternoon but wasn’t expected to pitch in Sunday’s game, and he’s appears a long shot to make the wild-card game roster due to right triceps tightness.

Sherfy, who hasn’t pitched since last weekend, would need to appear in a game prior to Wednesday in order for the Diamondbacks to feel comfortable putting him on the roster. That leaves the instructional league as his last-ditch option.

And since Lovullo said the Diamondbacks probably wouldn’t ask Sherfy to pitch on back-to-back days, that means he would have to pitch on Monday.

Since his throwing session on Sunday appeared to be far from game speed – well short of even a bullpen session – it seems unlikely that he would pitch in a game environment on Monday.

“I’m an optimistic person, living in the clouds and the rainbows, and I’m holding out hope his name will cross the conversation as healthy,” Lovullo said. “(But) time is winding down.”

Short hops

» Lovullo said there is a scenario in which all five of the Diamondbacks starting pitchers are on the wild-card roster. “It’s a possibility,” he said.

» In advance of the wild-card game, the Diamondbacks will hold workouts in the afternoons on Monday and Tuesday at Chase Field.