Brandon Pfaadt discusses his start in the Diamondbacks loss vs Marlins
Starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt talks about his performance in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 8-7, 10-inning loss to the Miami Marlins on Saturday.
On the surface, the decision was not a difficult one, not in Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo’s eyes. His pitcher, Ryne Nelson, had taken a shutout into the seventh inning.
The tying runs were on base, and Nelson’s results and command had begun to waver, but Lovullo said he knew, from a strict baseball perspective, what the best decision would be.
“I’m not an idiot,” Lovullo said. “I wanted to leave him in the game as bad as everybody else wanted me to leave him in the game.”
But in a season filled with catastrophic injuries to the Diamondbacks’ pitching staff, Lovullo said the decision to remove Nelson was about avoiding another one.
The move immediately backfired — the bullpen wasted no time giving up the lead — but the Diamondbacks still managed to escape with a 4-2 win over the San Francisco Giants on Monday night, June 30, snapping a four-game losing streak.
“I know I was the most unpopular man in the entire state of Arizona when I took out Ryne Nelson,” Lovullo said. “But he exceeded his pitch count. I ran him out there as far as I could.”
Geraldo Perdomo’s single in the seventh brought home the go-ahead run. Eugenio Suarez added to the lead with a solo homer, his 26th of the year, an inning later. The Diamondbacks opened a key series against a division rival with a much-needed win, beating their ace, Logan Webb.
But it was Nelson, charged with two earned runs in 6 2/3 innings, who was at the center of the night.
For most of the first six innings, Nelson was dominant, consistently pumping his mid-90s fastball past Giants hitters. It was his fifth start since moving into the rotation in place of the injured Corbin Burnes; the Diamondbacks have won four of them.
But Lovullo, whose pitching decisions have gone under the microscope given the struggles of the bullpen, was again scrutinized for a move.
At a publicity event earlier in the day, Lovullo said multiple fans presented him with managerial advice, suggesting he let his starters pitch deeper in the game.
“I always say, ‘Thank you, I appreciate that,’” Lovullo said in his pregame session with reporters.
And so it was no surprise when Lovullo was greeted with boos when he emerged from the dugout with the hook in the seventh. Nelson had given up a pair of hard-hit balls earlier in the inning. He had started to fall behind in counts.
But the consensus among Diamondbacks fans at Chase Field seemed to be that Lovullo was making another mistake.
Lovullo seemed to understand the frustration, but he stuck behind his decision.
Nelson had thrown a season-high 88 pitches. For most major league starters, that would not be perceived as dangerous territory. But Nelson has not been built up like most major league starters, and he apparently has been dealing with some kind of arm or body issue that has raised red flags within the organization.
“Like I keep telling you guys: I know what Ryne Nelson deals with,” Lovullo said. “I know what he wakes up like tomorrow. We went above and beyond his pitch count. …
“I just got to make sure that I keep Ryne Nelson healthy for the entire year. I was willing to sacrifice what happened, knowing there was a darn good chance it could happen.”
What happened was reliever Juan Morillo’s first pitch was blasted into right-center by Tyler Fitzgerald for a game-tying double on a ball that was nearly caught by a diving Alek Thomas in center field.
For what it’s worth, Nelson did not seem to have any issue with his manager’s decision, though he did not seem to want to get into specifics regarding his health.
“Yeah, I felt pretty good,” he said, when asked if he could have gone one more batter. “I was still on a pitch count, though. I’m still kind of easing back into it. I think overall the body feels better in the later parts of that game than it has in the last few. It’s a progress and moving in the right direction.”
Nelson opened the season as the club’s long reliever. He threw between 31 and 54 pitches in his first six appearances. Since joining the rotation on June 7, his pitch counts had ranged between 77 to 87 prior to this one.
“No, there’s a lot that goes into that,” Nelson said. “It was a bit of a different start to the season than I’m sure a lot of starters have. I totally get it. It’s people smarter than me making those calls.”
Asked what he has been dealing with physically, he said: “Nothing in particular. There’s always some early-season soreness and I wore a line drive off the leg a week and a half ago. If it’s not one thing, it’s something else.”
Despite the bullpen blowing its league-leading 17th save opportunity of the season, the Diamondbacks secured the victory.
The game featured a controversial call in the eighth inning resulting from fan interference. The Diamondbacks’ Tim Tawa tried to make a jumping catch at the wall, extending his glove just as a fan in the front row lunged for the ball.
The ball cleared Tawa’s glove and was caught by the fan just behind him.
Initially ruled an out, the call was changed to a double after a review. It was an outcome that frustrated both teams — it was hard to tell if the ball might have cleared the wall for a homer — but it hurt the Giants most after their next two hitters, Rafael Devers and Heliot Ramos, struck out to end the inning, leaving the runner at second.
Lovullo said Allen Campbell, the club’s video coordinator, was confident the ball would not have left the park. But Lovullo felt fortunate the umpires ultimately agreed.
“We dodged a little bit of a bullet,” Lovullo said. “It’s a game of inches. We lost a game the other day on a tag at third base. Something a quarter of an inch quicker, we get an out and we win a game against the Marlins. That’s why it’s such a beautiful game.”
Josh Naylor out, Corbin Carroll update
First baseman Josh Naylor is out of the Diamondbacks’ lineup for the third consecutive game and fourth of the past six.
Manager Torey Lovullo said Naylor’s neck and “right side” have “started to relax,” but it isn’t to the point where he’s able to return to action.
“It’s not perfect yet,” Lovullo said. “He took some swings. He’s going to continue to work on it with an eye on being available at some point during the day today. He’s working hard. He wants to get in there and play as soon as possible.”
This will be the third consecutive game Naylor has missed due to neck discomfort.
Right fielder Corbin Carroll, who is out with a fracture in his left wrist, is planning to swing the bat on Tuesday, July 1, for the first time since landing on the injured list last week.
Lovullo said Carroll is still aiming to return sometime before the All-Star break with the hope of being available to play in the All-Star Game if he makes the team.
In other injury news, Lovullo said right-hander Kendall Graveman will throw a bullpen session on July 1 and could face hitters in a live session later in the week.
Lovullo also left the door open a crack for right-hander Cristian Mena to return before the end of the season, though he did not make it sound likely. “I think there’s a small chance,” Lovullo said. “He’s got to check some boxes first.”
Coming up
July 1: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (5-9, 5.75) vs. Giants RHP Hayden Birdsong (3-2, 4.13).
July 2: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (7-4, 3.49) vs. Giants RHP Landen Roupp (6-5, 3.43).
July 3: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (8-5, 5.38) vs. Giants LHP Robbie Ray (8-3, 2.75).
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
