D-backs swap Zack Greinke, Merrill Kelly in rotation vs. Yankees

The Diamondbacks announced Monday that starting pitchers Zack Greinke and Merrill Kelly would trade places from what were originally their expected starting dates in an upcoming series against the Yankees.

The series is only two games long, taking place with a night game on Tuesday and a day game on Wednesday.

Greinke will face C.C. Sabathia on Tuesday and Kelly will face Masahiro Tanaka on Wednesday. It was originally going to be the other way around.

Off days on Monday and Thursday this week give the team flexibility with its starting rotation, which finished the series on Sunday against the Cubs with an outing from Luke Weaver, the fourth man in the rotation. That would’ve lined up Kelly, the fifth starter, to go Tuesday.

Kelly had been throwing in the bullpen at the end of the 15-inning game against the Cubs on Sunday and Lovullo was asked whether that would affect him for his then-expected start on Tuesday.

“No. We were going to go and explore that,” Lovullo said. “We were going to put him into this game if needed. Once again, there’s a guy that said he was up for that challenge without hesitation. But no, he was unaffected by the amount of pitches he threw. It was just a game of catch. He got fairly into his routine but not quite to the point we’re going to have to switch things around. So we should be just fine with everybody in line.”

That flexibility with the off-days could also serve the team well in figuring out what to do with Zack Godley, their struggling No. 3 starter who lasted just 2.2 innings on Saturday. A decision on that is being discussed still, Lovullo said this weekend.

After the Yankees series and a day off on Thursday, the D-backs will go to Denver and Tampa for three games apiece.

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