Zack Greinke debuts in spring, open to D-backs catcher options

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Arizona Diamondbacks have used a three-catcher rotation since manager Torey Lovullo arrived before the 2017 season.

One big reason: to provide ace Zack Greinke with his personal catcher. But since Jeff Mathis left that job open by departing in free agency, it’s a been a question of who steps into that role. A successful spring training debut for Greinke on Monday only left the door open for more options that previously thought.

Asked whether there is a timeline for him to pick his personal catcher, Greinke suggested that he would be open to the D-backs switching up his catcher each start.

“I don’t know if I’m even throwing to the same catcher this year. I might be throwing to a different catcher every outing,” he said.

“I prefer one guy but … there comes a point where offense is important. I think with our catchers being around long enough they’ll be able to adjust better … just I think it’ll work out better than it would sometimes in the past with me.”

Greinke used the example of Alex Avila — a more successful batter against right-handed pitchers over his career — not wanting to face lefties like Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw.

Lovullo said he hasn’t had a discussion this spring about Greinke using one catcher or multiple.

The D-backs are, after all, in the early stages of the pitcher learning his options.

The Diamondbacks paired Greinke on Monday with 24-year-old newcomer Carson Kelly, who was acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals in the Paul Goldschmidt trade. That was to help ease Kelly in after he caught Greinke in a prior bullpen session more than it was to suggest Kelly is a leading candidate to earn the job as Greinke’s personal catcher.

“My plan would be to give everybody a shot at Zack,” Lovullo said, adding that he will for sure have Greinke throw to Avila, John Ryan Murphy and Caleb Joseph.

If there’s time, Lovullo may even have Greinke pitch to prospects Daulton Varsho and Tyler Heineman, the latter of whom hit a game-winning sac-fly in a 4-3 win against the Oakland Athletics on Monday.

At Salt River Fields, Greinke threw two balls before tossing 14 consecutive strikes. He went 2.0 innings, throwing eight pitches in each. He didn’t allow a hit or a walk and struck out his first batter, Nick Martini. Then, he pushed his pitch-count to 30 in a side bullpen.

Greinke used the outing against Oakland to work on his stuff and told Kelly not to think too deeply about understanding his sequencing. His velocity hit 88 mph, a few ticks better than he began at last spring, and he threw a good deal of sliders and even a 64 mph curveball.

“Ball’s coming out of my hands a lot better this year,” Greinke said. “Last year, pitches weren’t coming out right. Even if the velocity looked good, it just didn’t feel like the right spin was on it and stuff.

“I started throwing a lot last year between starts and playing catch a lot. My arm’s been feeling a lot better since that.”

Now it’s a matter of Greinke building up while learning his non-Mathis catchers.

“I thought (Kelly) looked really good back there. Seemed easy to work with. I was impressed,” he said.

Greinke’s requirements for being compatible with him? A catcher who pays attention and gives good effort.

While there are four catchers vying for three roster spots if the D-backs follow the blueprint from the last two years, perhaps a future meeting between Greinke and Lovullo could change the team’s attack in terms of how they use their catching rotation. But until there’s good reason to change things up, Greinke’s openness to change should be taken with a grain of salt.

“I think that’s the system they believe in,” Kelly said of the three-catcher system. “I look at it as what I’ve seen in the past. We haven’t fully discussed anything like that. We’ll see. We’ll see how it goes.”

CENTER OF ATTENTION

Infielder Ketel Marte made his first start as the center fielder on Monday. While he wasn’t faced with anything challenging, he looked strong, according to Lovullo.

“I just had some discussions with a lot of people I trust that are watching him and working with him — ( first base coach) Dave McKay in particular — and he felt like it was time. It just made a lot of sense,” Lovullo said.

“He looked like a normal outfielder to me with how he was getting his breaks … that to me is what’s most important now.”

Perhaps the most challenging play for Marte was a hard-hit ball that clanged off the left-center wall, which he fielded cleanly and fired to shortstop Nick Ahmed, hitting him with a one-hopper.

DUPLANTIER SIGHTING

Innings after Greinke departed, prospect Jon Duplantier also went 2.0 frames, allowing no hits and one walk while striking out two batters.

Duplantier’s fastball clocked in at 97 mph in his first inning of work before settling in at 95 in his second.

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