Arizona Diamondbacks RHP Zack Greinke is ‘decent’ in Cactus League debut

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The 2017 Zack Greinke spring training start had been anticipated for a good amount of time.

“I’m excited to watch him compete from the dugout level. I’ve watched him from the other dugout. I know that he can do things very easily on the mound. The fastball command is easy for him. Spinning breaking balls and throwing pitches in the zone just comes very natural to him, so I’m really anxious to see how that plays out,” Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said prior to first pitch.

“He’s been working pretty hard behind the scenes for this moment. I just want to see what he looks like when he’s competing and just have zero expectations about the outcome. I just want to watch Zack Greinke go to work.”

And go to work Greinke did, although in an abbreviated outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Salt River Fields on Friday.

Greinke, the D-backs ace right-hander, pitched 1.2 shutout innings, leaving with a runner on first after an infield single by right fielder Andrew Toles.

“I thought it was all right. I guess typical first outing. A little sloppy, some OK stuff, but just a little rusty,” he said. “Decent first outing is a way to put it. It’s definitely got to get better but that’s the way you expect the first outing a little bit.”

Greinke was removed from the game with his pitch count at 33, two shy of the team’s recommended limit for a starter’s Cactus League debut. He threw 17 strikes, including five in a row to begin the game, with a first-pitch strike to four of the six batters faced.

“It kind of came and went,” he said, referring to his command of the strike zone. “The first couple of batters was good, then it got a little worse, then it got a little better. That’s normal, I guess.”

Greinke recorded a strikeout, groundout and a pair of fly ball outs. He also walked a batter, designated hitter Andre Ethier, who was erased on a caught stealing to end the first inning.

By pitching Friday, Greinke lines up to start Opening Day, which he will for the second straight season since joining the D-backs. Between now and then, Sunday, April 2 against the San Francisco Giants, Greinke will make five starts, one fewer than his rotation teammates.

But that’s by design; just part of the team’s plan to slow-play Greinke’s progress this spring.

“It should be fine. I mean if everything goes as planned, then there’s more than enough time (to get ready),” he said, adding about the Opening Day honor, “I didn’t expect anything otherwise. It is what it is, I guess.”

BASE HITS

— With Arizona Sen. John McCain among the 11,079 fans in attendance, Paul Goldschmidt homered and drove in four runs in the D-backs 15-3 win. The first-inning home run, an opposite field two-run shot off Brandon McCarthy, was his first of the spring. He added a two-run single to highlight a five-run third inning.

Goldschmidt, who will join Team USA for the World Baseball Classic next week, is batting .500 (6-for-12) with six RBI in five games.

McCain, by the way, watched the game with D-backs team president/CEO Derrick Hall and World Series hero Luis Gonzalez in the owner’s suite.

— Prior to the game, the D-backs signed left-handed reliever T.J. McFarland to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. McFarland had spent the past four seasons with the Baltimore Orioles.

“He was a guy who could come in to any environment,” Lovullo said. “He could start on a moment’s notice, if needed. He could come in early, stretch the game out and give his team a chance to play catch-up. He can come in and matchup early out of the bullpen with runners on base. He just didn’t seem to have any limitations to the role that he was filling in Baltimore.”

— For Lovullo, having a reliever in the bullpen who can be a jack-of-all-trades — including someone who can eat up innings — is important.

“To have somebody that can stretch out the game a little bit and not have you going to the bullpen so quickly and start to utilize those one-inning guys to get you back in the game, I think there’s some value to that guy,” he said. “But, does that guy need to be able to throw five or six innings? No. For me, that piece needs to throw more than one inning. Two to three innings.”

— After a day-night doubleheader the day before, the D-backs “had an easy work day” on the practice fields, according to Lovullo. That was preceded by a visit from David Rutherford, a former U.S. Navy SEAL.

“He’s a pretty special guy,” Lovullo said, adding Rutherford spoke of commitment and brotherhood. “I thought the message was perfect for our group of guys with the concepts that are getting thrown on them. He talked about unity. It was a really special message that he delivered to the entire group, and I know that he spoke to them on a pretty deep level.”

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