Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen expects team’s rotation to remain same for rest of season

Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen expects the team’s starting rotation to remain the same for the rest of the season as the team continues to get pitchers back from the injured list.

With 10 regular season games remaining, the Diamondbacks will not alter their rotation despite Michael Soroka and Zac Gallen recently returning and Ryne Nelson coming back soon.

Earlier on Wednesday, Arizona Sports‘ John Gambadoro reported the Diamondbacks will activate Nelson off the 60-day IL and designate pitcher Derek Law for assignment.

“Yeah, I’d imagine that this is the rotation you’re looking at for the rest of the season,” Hazen told Arizona Sports‘ Wolf & Luke on Wednesday.

The general manager added Nelson’s had “huge velocity” coming out of the bullpen during his rehab assignments, albeit in shorter stints. He said Nelson is “feeling great” and expects even higher velocity than usual from when Nelson was used as a starter this season.

Nelson threw 34 pitches across 1.2 innings in his last rehab appearance on Saturday. In 15 major league starts for Arizona this season, he threw his four-seam fastball on average at 96.3 MPH, topping out at 99.2 MPH, according to Baseball Savant.

Nelson has been used both as a starter and reliever for the Diamondbacks the past three seasons. Until his injury this year, he was exclusively used as a starter.

Despite the anticipation that Nelson will be used as a reliever to conclude this season, Hazen expects Nelson to return to the starting rotation next season.

“It’s great to have him back. He’s a major piece to what we’ve always been doing here. I think long term, we still see him as a starter moving into next year,” Hazen said. “But I think for the near term, you’re going to see him in shorter stints in the bullpen.”

The Diamondbacks opted to use Soroka as a starter last night after he was utilized as a reliever in last week’s loss to the Kansas City Royals. Soroka allowed three earned runs in four innings of relief following Gallen’s start last week but surrendered just two hits over five innings of work on Tuesday vs. the Miami Marlins.

Aside from giving up a 401-foot bomb to Griffin Conine, the rest of Soroka’s start was solid, as he struck out six and walked one.

As the team continues to find a role for Gallen, Hazen said Gallen will not piggyback off of Soroka’s starts.

“I don’t think that there’s a dead piggyback situation that you’re looking at. I think if Soroka, Burnes, and those guys all kind of build out their pitch counts, I think it’s going to be more opportunistic in that area,” Hazen said.

“So, I do think you’re going to see him pitch. I am interested to see what it’s going to look like coming out of the pen. Obviously, he has an arsenal that’s built up to get us some length if we need it in various points in time. But I don’t think he’s going to be pinned to any one person. I think it’s going to be as needed as we move through.”

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