Gallen debuts with pitch clock
Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen had his first exposure to the pitch clock on Tuesday afternoon — and his first experience with a gray area resulting from it.
Gallen was accused of delivering a “quick pitch” to strike out the Oakland Athletics’ Ryan Noda in the top of the first inning.
Gallen felt he didn’t do anything wrong but seemed to acknowledge there might be room for interpretation when it comes to pitchers giving hitters time to get set before throwing a pitch.
With a 2-2 count, Noda called time and stepped out of the box. Gallen said he had already settled on a pitch and just came set, waiting for Noda to step back in.
“I thought he looked at me for a good second and a half, two seconds,” Gallen said. “Which, I don’t know, I guess three seconds is the time when you’re ready? I don’t know. I was like, ‘OK, he seems ready to go.’”
Noda took a called third strike and immediately turned to home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman to complain. Dreckman let it stand, but Gallen said the umpire told him between innings he can’t pitch so fast again.
“It seems like a gray area,” Gallen said. “There’s no, ‘You’ve got to wait until five seconds in, 10 seconds in.’ I feel like a lot of guys on both sides are — it’s going to be interesting to see how that goes.”
Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed complained of a similar incident during Monday’s game in Surprise, saying a Royals pitcher was trying to deliver pitches in what Ahmed felt was an unreasonably short amount of time.
“Every time I stepped in he was coming set and was ready to go,” Ahmed said. “I felt kind of rushed there.”
Gallen also said he was experimenting with letting the clock tick down and
making hitters wait as a way of seeing if he could make them uncomfortable.
As for the rest of his outing, Gallen wasn’t especially sharp, but he said he was encouraged by the way the ball felt coming out of his hand.
“I felt like I had decent movement,” Gallen said. “Just fine-tuning those things, really, is what it comes down to now.”
Gallen walked four of the 13 batters he faced and threw 62 pitches.
His line lists him as giving up four runs in two innings, but he actually pitched in parts of each of the first four innings. Manager Torey Lovullo took advantage of the spring training re-entry rules to keep Gallen’s pitch count in order while also getting him the experience of getting up and down four times as he builds stamina for the season.
Just hit
Outfielder Kyle Lewis served as the designated hitter on Tuesday, going 1for-3 with a walk and a home run, his first of the spring. It was his second Cactus League game, both coming as DH, and manager Torey Lovullo made it sound like Lewis might not be seeing the field anytime soon.
“We’ll take it one piece at a time right now,” Lovullo said. “I don’t want to say there is a timeline or a magic number of days he’s going to DH and then until then he’ll start to move over. I’d like to make it happen, but I’m not sure when or where it’s going to happen.”
The Diamondbacks and Lewis are taking it slow based on Lewis’ history of knee problems. Lovullo said last week that Lewis was on board with the pace at which they were proceeding.
Short hops
Right-hander Ryne Nelson gave up four runs on three hits and one walk in 2 2/3 innings in a ‘B’ game against the Rangers in Surprise. Though the line wasn’t pretty, the report Lovullo received suggested that Nelson pitched better than it would appear. “He threw the ball well and the shape of the pitches was good,” Lovullo said.
*Left-hander Andrew Chafin is dealing with groin tightness and the club likely will give him more time between outings for the time being.
*Outfielder Druw Jones, the second overall pick in last year’s draft, took live at-bats for the first time since undergoing shoulder surgery last summer. Jones remains on target to be ready at or near the start of the minor league season.
*First baseman Seth Beer was scratched from the lineup after taking a ground ball off his thumb during the morning workout. Lovullo said the issue is not considered serious.
Athletics 9, Diamondbacks 3
At Salt River Fields
At the plate: DH Kyle Lewis crushed a solo home run to left-center field in the fifth inning, a ball that left his bat at 109.8 mph and traveled 390 feet. 3B Blaze Alexander doubled to left and 2B Buddy Kennedy drew a pair of walks. SS Cristofer Torin played in his first big league spring training game. The 17-year-old singled to right in his only at-bat.
On the mound: RHP Jeurys Familia pitched a perfect seventh inning. He struck out two, getting one with a sinker, another on his cutter. Familia averaged 94.9 mph with his fastball. He has yet to allow a run in four spring appearances, giving up just one hit, no walks and one hit batter with four strikeouts. “He’s pounding the zone with two pitches and (eliciting) a lot of swing and miss,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “He’s doing a good job, a very good job.” RHP Kevin Ginkel and RHP Cole Sulser also threw three-up, three-down innings.
Extra bases: Lovullo sounded frustrated by the fact that his staff issued eight walks, though four of them came from RHP Zac Gallen, who was making his first start of the spring. “I don’t think we were putting the ball on the plate in some key situations,” Lovullo said. “I think we’re getting to a point in the spring where certain guys at certain times need to do a little better job of that.”
Wednesday’s game: Diamondbacks LHP Tommy Henry vs. Rangers RHP Jon Gray, 1:10 p.m., Salt River Fields.