Kelly dominant in his Cactus League debut
At Salt River Fields, Friday, March 8
On the mound: RHP Merrill Kelly cruised through his first Cactus League start of the year, retiring each of the six batters he faced with three strikeouts. He threw 21 pitches in the game, then threw another 14 pitches in the bullpen after exiting the game. He said if he had to nitpick, his one complaint on the day was his feel for his change-up. He thinks he has focused so much on getting a feel for his slider it has come at the expense of his change-up, which has been his best secondary pitch in recent years. “We’ll definitely put some emphasis on that moving forward,”
Kelly said. “It should be fine.” RHP Kevin Ginkel, the club’s top setup man, made his first appearance, as well, giving up a solo homer and retiring the other three batters he faced. His fastball sat in its usual 94-96 mph range, a good sign for a pitcher whose spring debut was delayed by elbow soreness. “I feel like with my health, it feels good now,” Ginkel said. “Just getting a few days to ease into camp was nice. Now I need to play a little catch-up here, but I feel like come the season I’ll be ready to go, ready to rock.”
At the plate: DH Joc Pederson had two hits, including his first home run this spring, an opposite-field, two-run shot in the third off RHP Kyle Hendricks. LF Lourdes Gurriel had a scare when he was hit by a pitch on the left hand in the third inning, but he said later he is not hurt and should be available to return to the lineup on Saturday. The Diamondbacks scored four runs in the fourth inning thanks to five singles and an error; most of those came on balls hit up the middle or to the opposite field.
Extra bases: OF Randal Grichuk, who is building up after having offseason surgery to remove bone spurs from his ankle, faced live pitching for the first time but has yet to begin running the bases, manager Torey Lovullo said.
Grichuk could progress to serving as a DH in Cactus League games sometime next week, Lovullo said. RHP Corbin Martin faced hitters in a live batting practice, sitting 95-97 mph with his fastball, per Lovullo. “His stuff was really good,” Lovullo said. “I liked what I saw and everybody else did, as well.”
Next game, Saturday, March 9: Diamondbacks (ss) LHP Eduardo Rodriguez vs. Reds LHP Andrew Abbott, 1:10 p.m., Salt River Fields; Diamondbacks (ss) LHP Tommy Henry vs. Royals RHP Michael Wacha, 1:05 p.m., Surprise Stadium.