D-backs Lovullo Gives Surprising Answer to Rotation Question

Who is the Opening Day starter, who will be the fifth starter, and who will go to the bullpen are all questions to be worked out. The manager opened up an intriguing question regarding starter to reliever conversions

Mar 3, 2025; Salt River Pima-Maricopa, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo (17) takes out pitcher Corbin Burnes (39) in the third inning against the Chicago Cubs at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images / Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo is dealing not only with some spring injuries to his players, but also working through the tensions of making decisions on multiple fronts regarding the roster.

Kendall Graveman is still having issues with his back, and at this point the focus is on just getting him healed and ready to go sometime in April. Barring an unexpected quick recovery, he will not be ready in time for Opening Day.

Adrian Del Castillo has been dealing with lower back and side issues. This is the second injury he's suffered in spring as he previously missed time due to a sore throwing elbow. The catcher has been held out of games the last few days, but is expected to catch Eduardo Rodríguez in a backfield simulation game on Wednesday.

Blake Walston is scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery on his left elbow on March 26 with Dr. Keith Meister. Related Content: D-backs Blake Walston Reveals Cause of Elbow Injury and Timeline

Roster Decisions

Opening Day Starter:

The decision on who to choose between Zac Gallen and Corbin Burnes for opening day starter is nearing a conclusion. Lovullo indicated that he will consider feedback from his staff and communicate a decision internally during the off day on Tuesday. Presumably he will make that decision public prior to Wednesday's Cactus League game at the latest.

His process for making this decision has been to ask his staff for their feedback, not just who they think it should be, but rather he wants to the know the "why."

"I'm asking them to tell me why. The whys are not what I completely think of every single time. I want to know everybody's whys. And I'll make the decision, I just want to know what everybody's thinking," Lovullo said.

5th Starter

The cliche "good problems to have" when it comes to having tough choices to make due to roster depth is one we've heard often in relation to this year's Diamondbacks rotation. Burnes, Gallen, Merrill Kelly, and Rodríguez are locks for the first four rotation spots, regardless of what order they pitch in.

Then you have Brandon Pfaadt, Ryne Nelson, and Jordan Montgomery vying for the fifth spot. Both Pfaadt and Nelson have had excellent springs, while Montgomery has not. But he's slated to make $22.5 million dollars in 2025 and remains a factor.

"I think all those clichés kind of sit in a certain space for me," Lovullo said. "I like that we have these problems, it means we're a good team. We have a lot of 50-50 balls in just about every decision, it's not a slam dunk."

Be that as it may, at least one deserving starting pitcher between Pfaadt and Nelson is going to have to either go to the bullpen, or go to Triple-A Reno to remain stretched out. On that front Lovullo made known the internal tension between trying to have the best players on the roster to win games now versus maintaining rotation depth and further developing young players.

One possibility that was raised was whether someone like Brandon Pfaadt, or perhaps even Ryne Nelson could be used as short relievers. Asked directly if he would consider using one of those starters as a good eighth inning pitcher, Lovullo gave a surprising answer.

"Putting our best players on the team at one time and taking them to Chase Field, that's the space I'm living in, but there are a lot of people around me that have different parts of that conversation, so we're trying to figure that out.

"We've got to have depth, we've got to have starters 6, 7, and 8 ready to step in and help us win baseball games. But, I'm kind of taking the mindset that I want the best pitchers on the team, and that might mean putting somebody in the bullpen," the manager said.

Lovullo spoke about the need expressed by his pitching coach Brian Kaplan to know the decisions as soon as possible.

"In talking to Kaplan early as this morning, he's asking me what are we doing? Do we know? What do you know? And I'm like, well, you're part of the decision, too. What do you think? Slow it down and help me out here a little bit."

Kaplan's feedback revolved around the practical side of preparing the pitchers. "I want to get them reps, if we know, let's start to get them reps." Kaplan told Lovullo. But the manager said he just didn't know yet, and they've got to figure it out.

What's clear in all this is it's not just the manager's decision. These decisions are happening in the front office with input from the manager. But the decision rests at the top, with Mike Hazen and his baseball operations staff.

The other key dynamic and context to this decision is the past failures of putting a starter in a relief role, only try to stretch them back out as starter. The two examples are Jon Duplantier in 2019 and Drey Jameson in 2023. Both were injured in that process and Jameson had to have Tommy John Surgery, something he's just now recovered from. "We feel like we've walked away from that [approach]," Lovullo said.

Lovullo detailed what things could look like. If they use a pitcher in the pen as a long man, and he's able to throw 55-60 pitches, then it's safe to stretch them back out to a starter's total. "But if you shorten the amount of pitches they throw, and it's over a certain length of time, we're not going to go backwards on it," Lovullo said.

That then begged the question. If you shorten up a starter such as Pfaadt or Nelson past the point of no return, you then lose some of your starting pitcher depth if somebody does go down. Lovullo confirmed that would be the case, and therein lies the rub.

It may take until the very last day before the season starts before we have final answers on these and other questions. The closer's role and backup infielder spot have yet to be determined as well.

Diamondbacks On SI will update and report on these and other questions as soon as the answers are known.