Diamondbacks to use opener on Thursday vs. Dodgers, push back Zac Gallen

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks are tweaking their starting rotation again, this time pushing back Zac Gallen to this weekend’s series at the San Diego Padres.

Arizona will use left-hander Jalen Beeks (3.67 ERA) as an opener on Thursday in its critical rubber match against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He will face Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernandez and perhaps cleanup hitter Freddie Freeman.

Nabil Crismatt is a bulk innings option in the bullpen.

For the Dodgers, All-Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2.58 ERA) will get the start.

Gallen will pitch on Friday at Petco Park, with Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt rounding out the regular season rotation.

The regular season ends on Sunday, as the Diamondbacks have four contests to make up one game on both the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds in the National League Wild Card race.

Manager Torey Lovullo said matchups and getting Gallen another day of rest after he’d been dealing with illness were factors in the decision.

“ I think Zac could use the extra day rest. That was a big piece of the puzzle,” Lovullo said. “Same with E-Rod. And we felt like we were gonna need one day of a bullpen outing to pick up the slack and it was either gonna be tomorrow or today. And we just thought today would be the best opportunity for us to win a baseball game, being able to match up with the guys we have against their team.”

Unless the Diamondbacks fight their way into the National League Division Series and host a playoff game, Gallen has made his final home start at Chase Field before entering free agency this winter.

Gallen threw six shutout innings against the Dodgers when he last faced them in August. He owns a 2.82 ERA in 10 starts since the trade deadline.

Beeks has opened once before this season (scoreless innings vs. Reds), while Crismatt has thrown one inning since Sept. 14.

Gabriel Moreno will catch Thursday’s game, Lovullo said, and James McCann will catch Gallen’s start against the Padres.

The Diamondbacks went to a four-man rotation for the final two weeks of the season to line up their starters over the final series. Gallen was lined up for a potential Game 1 in a Wild Card round, but that will no longer be the case.

Ryne Nelson appears to be the Game 1 starter if the Diamondbacks manage to climb into a playoff spot.

Arizona’s final game against Los Angeles starts at 12:40 p.m. MST on Thursday afternoon.

Related

Diamondbacks standings: D-backs out of NL Wild Card raceDiamondbacks don't lose or gain ground in playoff race with extra-inning loss to DodgersDiamondbacks plan on Michael Soroka making rehab start TuesdayESPN’s Schoenfield list Daulton Varsho to Diamondbacks as top potential trade dominoHow Diamondbacks’ 2025 trade deadline played out 1 year laterDiamondbacks have more options to handle closer-by-committee than in the recent past