D-backs’ Lovullo on Caleb Smith’s outing: ‘It’s about making adjustments’

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Caleb Smith returned to the mound for his third spring outing Sunday, recording five strikeouts and surrendering one run and four walks in a 6-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants.

It wasn’t quite the outing the lefty wanted in the middle of spring, saying he felt a little out of sync as he continues shaking off the offseason rust.

“I felt better when I was pitching out of the windup,” Smith told reporters via Zoom. “Everything felt normal out of the windup. It was just whenever I got into the stretch today that it felt a little off.”

Smith struck out the first two Giants he faced before issuing two walks and another strikeout in the first inning, but after a leadoff single in the top of the second, Smith began to sputter, manager Torey Lovullo said.

“He was showing that he had real good tempo and rhythm, and then somebody got on base and he just out of whack and he couldn’t repeat his delivery,” Lovullo said. “He started to throw balls a little inconsistently.

“It’s a process. We know it takes a little bit of time to figure those things out but we need to start to figure that out as quickly as possible.”

The D-backs took Smith out in the second inning so as to not overwork the pitcher, but he returned with a strong finish in the third, retiring all three batters he faced.

“I think after he had a chance to sit down for a minute, he did a really nice job in his final inning of work,” Lovullo said. “Once again, it’s about making adjustments, it’s about feeling things moving forward and solidifying how the ball’s coming out of your hand.”

As the regular season edges closer, Smith said he isn’t too concerned about the changes he needs to make.

“It’s still spring training and there’s still a lot of time to fix it and we just have to move forward.”

UP NEXT

The D-backs take on the Seattle Mariners in Peoria at 1:10 p.m. on Monday.

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