Zac Gallen's Masterful Return From Injury

Zac Gallen was near-perfect in his return from the injured list. His return to the rotation may signal a changing tide for the D-backs as they try and battle back to a Wild Card spot.

Jun 29, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen (23) throws against the Oakland Athletics in the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports / Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Diamondbacks Ace Zac Gallen returned from injury yesterday, and to say he was dominant would be the understatement of the century. After spending nearly a month on the shelf with a hamstring strain, after exiting a start in New York, Gallen came back with a fire in him.

His outing began with quite a bang. In particular, two pitches to Oakland catcher Shea Langileers clocked at 97 mph, and 97.2. Both pitches were the hardest of his career. This raised velocity on his pitches was a trend throughout the game, with his final fastball average clocking in at a career-high 95.4 mph. His overall average across pitches was also up, ending at 87.7 across the board.

During the first inning Gallen allowed a bloop single into shallow center field to Brent Rooker. This single would be the only blemish on an otherwise nearly perfect outing.

Final Line: 6 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 7 K, 77 Pitches

Since 2019, his 19 starts of 6.0 or more shutout innings with 6 or more strikeouts and 3 or fewer hits allowed is the most in the majors. He slots in just ahead of Blake Snell (18) and Corbin Burnes (17). Gallen also managed to record his 750th strikeout as a Diamondback in yesterday's game, as he continues to inch towards 5th all-time in franchise strikeouts.

Rehab

Gallen, a notorious student of the game, spent his rehab time not just recovering but staying mentally focused on his return. "It's easy to fall into a trap at Salt River," said Gallen, "the schedule is not too bad, you are in there pretty early and out pretty early so you can kind of fall into a trap of not staying ready".

This was something that Gallen gained experience in 2021, as he recovered from elbow inflammation, and had a rocky return from his injury. This time around he used his experience to his advantage and it paid off.

"I kind of just went there and mentally prepared to pitch this past Tuesday and tried to stay as locked in as I could. This past week was tough, kind of getting used to the routine of being at Salt River, so I challenged myself to not fall into that trap".

Manager Torey Lovullo praised Gallen for how he used the last month of rehab time, not wasting a moment and staying focused on his journey back to Chase Field. Gallen's return is monumental for the team, adding more stability to a banged-up and largely inexperienced rotation at this point.

"I had everything going"

With a final line like Gallen had, it's obvious things were working for him. A combination of Oakland's lineup being one of the worst in the league, and Gallen being a top-of-the-league starter is already case enough to file this outing under "solid", but this was not just another outing for him.

Gallen is notorious for being a "perfectionist" with his stuff, always working to unlock another level in his game. After yesterday's game though he seemed much happier with where he was at. "It was good. I felt like I had everything going...fastball, changeup, slider, curveball I felt like they were all there. I felt like things I was working on delivery-wise kind of clicked."

When talking about his large increase in fastball velocity Gallen attributed it largely to adrenaline. "I think a little bit of adrenaline, and a little bit of the things that I've been working on. There is certain things with my back foot that we think could be causing me to move inefficently...hopefully, that might be the missing piece to this whole thing. Hopefully the velocity carries."

It was really when Gallen was asked if this was the best he had felt so far this season that he took a moment to reflect on his past starts and compare them to yesterday. "Yeah I would say so. I probably had some ones that were close stuff wise, but delivery wise were just okay. But today, delivery and stuff based it is probably the best it's felt, and I'm encouraged by that."

While there are still two rotation spots missing their ideal arms, Zac Gallen's return is monumental for the Diamondbacks' hopes to regain a Wild Card position. Having his stabilizing force going every 5th day will be something to look forward to. He is the kind of Ace that can keep the team on its feet through a tough week.