Tensions Mount at the Mound in Diamondbacks loss

Mound issues spark tensions between Dbacks and Tigers dugouts

May 18, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Zac Gallen (23) watches as the grounds crew repairs mound / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

On a Saturday night matchup between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Detroit Tigers a seemingly mundane part of the game-the pitching mound-has sparked some controversy between the two teams.

A pitching duel between Zac Gallen and Jack Flaherty was oddly highlighted by mound repairs. The Tigers righty has a unique way of digging into the dirt around the pitching rubber before delivering his pitches. This however led to some concerns for his Dbacks counterpart.

Zac Gallen is freshly coming off of some injury concern in his right hamstring. During a game vs the Seattle Mariners, Gallen had to exit the game early because of "tightness".

During a post-game talk with the Media, Gallen said that he approached umpires about the hole on the mound dug by Flaherty. "My back foot was being put into a compromising position, making me use different muscles" said Gallen.

May 18, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Zac Gallen pitches against the Tigers / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Crew-chief Larry Vanover took action and allowed grounds crews to make repairs to the mound between innings.

Gallen told reporters that he felt "tight" in the same hamstring that was a concern in Seattle. "I didn't want it to become a bigger issue for me".

Jack Flaherty and parts of the Tigers bench took offense to the umpires decision to let the grounds crew repeatedly come and repair the home teams mound. They could be seen, and heard chirping at the Diamondbacks bench, and directly at Dbacks manager Torey Lovullo.

Torey Lovullo said there was a lot more coming from Tigers dugout prior to this.

“I had enough”

There was earlier contention over mound repair as Flaherty and Gallen wanted different conditions. Multiple repairs and delays ensued over it. https://t.co/7i7zJhGeIo

— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) May 19, 2024

Lovullo refused to comment specifically on what happened between him and Flaherty but stated that "there were some things coming from their side that were rubbing us the wrong way, and I had enough".

It is clear that the Dbacks manager's main concern was the health and safety of his pitcher, being very grateful for how well the Crew chief handled the situation. When Flaherty began instigating an engagement with the Diamondbacks bench Lovullo could be seen mouthing "sit down".

A situation with the mound is something you don't see a lot in today's game, with excellent grounds crews and pitchers on all levels of Baseball generally "dealing with" uncomfortable mound conditions and pitching through it. This however, was a far more serious situation when it came to Gallen's health and keeping him on the field.

Fortunately Gallen said that he felt fine after the game and didn't expect the hamstring to be an issue going forward.