Diamondbacks Shake up Rotation in Wake of Zac Gallen's Injury

Arizona will be forced to go with four young, relatively inexperienced starting pitchers for the time being.

Slade Cecconi pitches against the Cincinnati Reds May 14, 2024 / Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

The Diamondbacks placed Ace starting pitcher Zac Gallen on the 15-day disabled list yesterday and called up Slade Cecconi from Triple-A Reno. The good news that came out of last night's press conference with Torey Lovullo is that Gallen's right hamstring strain, suffered Thursday night, is considered a Grade-1, which is the least severe.

The team is hopeful that Gallen can return in the minimum amount of time when eligible June 15th

What wasn't clear at the time of first reports was exactly where and when the team was planning to utilize Cecconi and what the impacts would be on the rest of the rotation. We now have some further clarity. Late Friday night the team also announced that Cecconi will start Saturday evening against the Mets, 4:10 P.M. Arizona time in place of Blake Walston.

Brandon Pfaadt is still listed on the team's website to be the starter for Sunday's game, 10:40 A.M. Arizona time. Beyond that things are still a little bit murky.

The starters for Monday and Tuesday back home at Chase Field against the Giants are listed as TBD on the team's website. However Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reported that Ryne Nelson will start on Monday and Walston will start on Tuesday. Jordan Montgomery should be taking his scheduled start in that series finale on Wednesday regardless.

The Diamondbacks have been very creative and flexible with their plans in the midst of very fluid injury situations. They now have their top three starters on the injured list in Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez, who has not even thrown a pitch this year. As a result they have frequently used bullpen games, or openers and "bulk" pitchers to fill the gaps.

So until the team makes it official, we just won't know exactly what their plans are for Monday and Tuesday. They may opt to go with openers both games, or they could just go straight into conventional starts. They could Have Walston go on Monday and Nelson on Tuesday if they want to break up the left-handers, or they could go with the order that Piecoro outlined.

Regardless of which way they go, the team is going to be heavily dependent on young starting pitching to bridge the gap over the next two to four weeks until the injured veterans can start to return. These four starters have combined for just 86 career games, 433 innings, and a 5.07 ERA.

Diamondbacks Young Starting Pitching Career Stats / Jack Sommers

Pfaadt has emerged as the most reliable pitcher for the Diamondbacks, leading the team this year in starts and innings pitched, (11 GS, 67 IP) Six of his starts have been "quality starts" totaling at least six innings pitched while allowing three earned runs or less. He has a 4.16 ERA this year, but a 3.24 FIP, thanks to an excellent 5.3 K/BB ratio,

It was hoped that the veteran Montgomery would be a steady presences in the rotation, but he has struggled to a 5.48 ERA this year. He had one of the worst starts of his career last night against the Mets in a 10-9 loss. He'll need to turn things around in a big way over the next few weeks to provide leadership in the rotation if the D-backs are to have any hope of staying in the NL Wild Card chase.