Lovullo: Zack Greinke will start on Saturday for D-backs

When Zack Greinke tweaked his groin on March 14, there was a reason for the Arizona Diamondbacks to be concerned about their ace.

While Greinke would miss pitching on Opening Day, he won’t miss one complete cycle of the rotation, according to D-backs manager Torey Lovullo.

“Zack will start on Saturday and he will be followed by Taijuan (Walker) and Zack Godley,” he said prior to Thursday’s game.

Greinke last pitched on Monday against the Cleveland Indians, 12 days after the groin injury occurred. He threw 75 pitches over six innings and allowed only one baserunner.

Lovullo said while Greinke’s process is a bit unorthodox, he is focused on letting him do his own things in the spring to get back on track.

“We never want to force him outside of the comfort zone that he’s created and I respect everything that he does and the process he follows, so much that I allow him to kind of dictate his pace and I know it throws everybody off but it seems to work,” Lovullo said.

Patrick Corbin took Greinke’s place as the Opening Day starter and Robbie Ray is slated to pitch on Friday to stay in his spot as the No. 2 in the rotation.

Greinke had a bounce-back 2017, winning 17 games and posting a 3.20 ERA after a worrisome 2016 campaign of a 13-7 record and a 4.37 ERA.

While last year was nice, the D-backs will still be expecting much more.

Greinke, after all, will make at least $31 million a year for the next four seasons and his ERA numbers in his previous three seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers were 2.63, 2.71 and 1.66.

The new season marks year No. 15 for the 34-year-old in the majors.

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