Offense leaves Reed itching for saves

A potent offense, like the one the Diamondbacks have displayed this week, doesn’t usually draw many critiques, but the glut of runs clearly puts one player on the outs – the one whose chief responsibility becomes irrelevant amid such lopsided results. Closer Addison Reed has found himself in a save situation only twice this season entering play Friday – a lighter workload than the 26-year-old is used to carrying. Nine of the Diamondbacks’ first 13 wins have come by a margin of at least four runs.

“It gets kind of weird,” Reed said. “You’d think you’d accidentally beat a team by two runs or three runs, but it seems like when we win we win by seven or eight runs.”

Reed’s first save came in Game 2, a 7-6 victory over the Giants. His only opportunity since then before Friday’s action came April 16, which ended up as a blown save in San Francisco.

To compare, the Yankees’ Andrew Miller had gone a perfect 12-for-12 in save opportunities entering Friday. By this time last season, Reed had already accumulated 10 saves. One at this point of the calendar is the fewest in his career; he had two by May 8 in his first full season in the majors with the White Sox in 2012.

The Diamondbacks have still found work for Reed. He appeared earlier this week, tossing a scoreless inning in the second half of the doubleheader against the Rockies. And before that, he had pitched every third day for almost two weeks despite having only one save opportunity in that span. Although Reed would no doubt like to do his job, a routine like that is fine by him if it means the team is in cruise control by the ninth.

“It sucks when you don’t go out there and get the save opportunity, but I mean as long as we’re winning, I don’t care if we’re winning by two runs or 10 runs as long as we’re winning,” Reed said.

Options for Sunday

The Diamondbacks have yet to anoint a starter for Sunday’s game, filling right-hander Archie Brad

ley’s (right sinus fracture) spot in the rotation, but they have identified a scenario that could possibly play out.

“We’ll probably use somebody out of the bullpen to start, just use the whole bullpen,” manager

Chip Hale said. “Just depends on how much we have to use guys the next two nights. ”

Hale said he won’t hold anybody back leading up to Sunday, wanting to do what it takes to win in the meantime. He believes a combination of relievers Daniel Hudson, Randall Delgado and Andrew Chafin could deliver.

New friendship

While on the mend, Bradley visited 14-yearold Nick Shumaker at Phoenix Children’s Hospital after the 14-year-old also recently took a line drive to the face, requiring nasal surgery. The two bonded and today, Bradley is expecting Shumaker to attend the Diamondbacks game.

“What are the chances a kid gets hit the same day I did, especially in Phoenix,” Bradley said.