Greinke’s effort overshadowed in wild win
All things considered, it wasn’t a bad Opening Day for Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible, either.
Compared to the dominating performance of counterpart Madison Bumgarner, who retired the first 16 batters he faced in addition to walloping two home runs for the San Francisco Giants, Greinke’s efforts just got lost in the shuffle on Sunday at Chase Field.
Put it this way: In Arizona’s wild 6-5 victory, Greinke pitched a heck of a lot better than he did in last year’s Opening Day start against the Rockies. In that game, won by Colorado 10-5, the veteran right-hander lasted only four innings and was tagged for seven earned runs on nine hits.
This time was better, though unspectacular because of all the other drama and late-game heroics that occurred, including Chris Owings’ winning hit with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
“It went pretty good. I had a lot of good pitches, just a pretty good game overall,” Greinke said after allowing two runs on four hits in five innings. “I had a lot of 3-2 counts, especially the first couple innings, which happens with their team I think a little more than most because they don’t strike out very often.”
Manager Torey Lovullo said he thought Greinke “grinded” through the outing and “was in a little bit of a fistfight” because he had trouble with his command on a couple of his pitches. Overall, however, he called it a “very positive” performance.
So did catcher Jeff Mathis, who said, “I was pretty happy with the way he threw the ball, to be honest. I mean, yeah, he wasn’t as pin point as maybe he’d have liked or whatever, but I thought he threw the ball really good. Tip your cap to them for laying off some of his breaking stuff and getting him into a high pitch count.”
If there were any concerns about Greinke’s noticeable drop in velocity during spring training, those were at least temporarily put to bed on Sunday. After topping out mostly between 89-90 mph during Cactus League play, Greinke twice got his fastball up to 93 mph against the Giants and has said he feels as though his arm is only going to get stronger in the coming weeks.
Asked for his impressions of Bumgarner, who recorded 11 strikeouts against no walks in addition to becoming the first pitcher in major-league history to homer twice on Opening Day, Greinke was gracious in his compliments.
“He was amazing,” Greinke said. “I wish I could have a game like that. That was a really good game. … Everyone knew (he can hit). That’s even better, when people know you can hit and you still have trouble getting him out. I mean, that’s impressive.”
Feeling nostalgic
Lovullo officially made his majorleague managing debut on Sunday, and he acknowledged he had a bit of a restless night in the hours leading up to the game. He said he slept well from about 11 until 3 in the morning, and then “things started clicking for me.”
“I think my body, my mind, knew something was different about today,” he said. “And when I consciously woke up and remembered that it was Opening Day, it was a little bit more of a restless sleep. That’s what it’s supposed to be about. This is Opening Day. This is the time of the year when everybody sleeps in their uniform, wakes up at 6 o’clock and has their mom and dad bring them to the ballpark early to get messy and stand in line in Little League.
“In high school, you can’t wait to get to the ballpark, you just hope you don’t get sick before Opening Day. It transitions all the way to what we do today. There’s nothing different about Opening Day at any level at any time. It’s a special time of the year.”
Lovullo had about 75 friends and family members among the sellout crowd of 49,016 in attendance, and most of them arrived at the ballpark in a charter bus. His wife planned a huge party for everyone Sunday night, and Lovullo said his debut “couldn’t have been scripted any better.”
“To have the ups and downs of the moment, finish on such an incredibly high note, I don’t know if I’m going to come down for the rest of the day,” he said, adding of the postgame party, “I know I’m going to walk in there and embrace everybody and let the celebration begin.”
Barrett progressing
Right-hander Jake Barrett, who was pegged as a set-up man but began the season on the 10-day disabled list because of shoulder stiffness, continues to throw bullpen sessions in an effort to rejoin the team and threw his latest one on Sunday at Salt River Fields.
“Jake has been feeling very good,” Lovullo said. “… Up to this point, things have been progressing very, very well. Everything has been pretty much right where it’s supposed to be, right on schedule.”
Lovullo couldn’t say when Barrett might start facing live hitters, although the pitcher will have to do that before he can start pitching in extended spring training or begin a rehab assignment in the minor leagues.
“I think this bullpen is going to determine what the next step is,” Lovullo said.
The 100-100 club
With his next stolen base, Paul Goldschmidt will become just the fifth first baseman in major-league history to hit at least 100 home runs and steal 100 bases. He has 139 career homers and 99 steals.
The only other first baseman in the 100-100 club are Jeff Bagwell (446 homers, 201 stolen bases), Andres Galarraga (387, 127), Derrek Lee (328, 104) and Dan Driessen (133, 122).
Chris Young was the first player in Diamondbacks history to join the 100-100 club. The outfielder, who played for Arizona from 2006-12, had 132 homers and 112 stolen bases during his Diamondbacks career.
Goldy Field in Goodyear
As part of their “Diamonds Back” Youth Field Building Program, presented by APS, the Diamondbacks will unveil their 39th youth baseball field on Tuesday, and this one will be Paul Goldschmidt Field in Goodyear.
The dedication will take place at 10 a.m. at Falcon Park, located at 15-50 W. Indian School Road. Goldschmidt will be on hand for the ceremony along with Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall, team play-by-play announcer Steve Berthiaume, APS Chairman and CEO Don Brandt and Goodyear Mayor Georgia Lord.
Since 2000, the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation has now built or refurbished 39 different baseball fields across the state at a cost exceeding $10 million. With support from APS and contributions from Diamondbacks players, the program has allowed children from across the state to play baseball and softball at quality facilities. The Goodyear field will feature a new scoreboard, fencing and lighting system.