Torey Lovullo Explains Decision to Call Up Blake Walston to Start

The young left-hander has impressed the manager and the player development staff to earn this opportunity

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Blake Walston (48) throws to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fourth inning at Chase Field in Phoenix on May 1, 2024. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY

The Arizona Diamondbacks and Miami Marlins square off for the rubber match of a three game series at Chase Field Sunday at 1:10 P.M.

Blake Walston (0-0, 4.91 ERA) will be making his first career start. He made his major league debut on May 1st with 3.2 innings of relief work giving up two runs on three hits. That outing was more impressive than his final line however.

He'll be opposed by left-hander Ryan Weathers, 2-4, 3.49 ERA. Weathers is having a breakout season of sorts, as the 24-year-old came into 2024 with a 5-15 record and 5.88 ERA spread across 2021-2023. He's a good example of the need to be patient with young starting pitching.

Prior to the game Torey Lovullo addressed the prospect of Walston's first career start and what he's seen from the young lefty.

"I'm really excited to watch him go out and work and get a chance to start a baseball game. I know the last time he was here was a quick in and out. I thought he threw the ball pretty well. He's just trending in a good way."

The 22-year-old Walston is a true product of the player development system. Drafted out of high school, he's pitched at every level of the organization.

"It's a four pitch mix, he's got a really good feel for the baseball, can manipulate the ball." Lovullo said. "He can pitch backwards if he needs to. He can attack the zone. We're all really excited for him. Player development has done a good job."

Walston was optioned out the day after his MLB debut. At the time it was out of necessity. The team needed his length the day he was called up, but didn't actually need a starter at that time, and wanted to keep him stretched out. Still, it was not an easy conversation for Lovullo.

"It's not anything I want to ever do on an off day...I had to do it over the phone. That's never my first preference. Sometimes it's done out of necessity. I like to look at the athlete in the eye and explain to them what was going and be honest with them and then have them respond."

"You can't really get a feel through the phone. That's awkward for me. Blake took it in stride. I explained to him what was going on, his time was still coming and he's going to find his way back to the big leagues but it's up to him to go make good things happen. And he did, he threw the ball well."

Walston was not the only option to be called up. Tommy Henry and Cristian Mena are also in the Triple-A Reno aces rotation and pitching fairly well in that tough environment. Lovullo explained the timing process of selecting Walston.

"All the names were in play. I think the decision was probably made four days ago that we targeted Blake. He lined up, he'd been throwing the ball well. We clipped his pitch count at 70 pitches in his last outing, so we knew 4-5 days ago this was going to be Blake."

"It was his ability to attack the zone with a variety of pitchers. Tommy [Henry] has had some good starts as well. [Cristian] Mena is still the unknown for us because we really haven't gotten a chance to know him here at this level. But player development has really enjoyed his growth so far. We just wanted to see what Blake would be able to do."