Diamondbacks have rotation mapped out; Yilber Diaz receives new role

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks have their starting rotation mapped out “as far as we can go” with only five series remaining before the postseason.

The D-backs reshuffled their starters to set up their desired matchups before the end of the year, moving Zac Gallen up to Sunday and moving back Ryne Nelson to next week’s series in Colorado.

A small wrench is the status of Merrill Kelly, who exited his last start with right hamstring cramping but is not expected to miss any time. Whether he starts on Monday to stay in line behind Gallen or Tuesday for an extra day of rest is to be determined. The Diamondbacks have one more off day this season to set up the rotation behind presumptive Game 1 starter Gallen.

“I don’t want to make any assumptions, every series we play, I mean, is huge,” Lovullo said.

“Every game has been huge, as it should be. We’ve earned that. But there are times where I have to step outside of that a little bit and start to see different projections. I’m not the only one. We’re up at my the board in my office, constantly moving things around. It is to get the right guys on turn, the guys that are probably gassed up the most, the guys we want to have start against certain teams. And then it does go beyond the end of the season.”

If Kelly starts on Monday, the rotation as it stands would go Gallen, Kelly, Nelson, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt after Rodriguez and Pfaadt swapped places in this weekend’s reshuffle. That’s not to say that will be the exact order entering the wild card round — Arizona entered Friday as the top wild card team and three games up on the Atlanta Braves on the outside looking in.

As far as who the three starting pitchers in a wild card series would be, Lovullo said, “We’ve got it mapped out as far as we can go. I don’t want to talk about it … That’s all in play and considered when we are talking through some of the rotation switches we made.”

What is Yilber Diaz’s role?

The Diamondbacks recalled top pitching prospect Yilber Diaz to fill a bullpen role after he had been starting for most of the year. They did the same with Bryce Jarvis last year and Slade Cecconi this season.

“Probably more than one inning, not the long man, probably one- plus two-inning stints, and he could throw in any situation, in any game,” Lovullo said. “Might want to give him a little bit of a soft landing, but I don’t think he cares. I think he wants to go out there and compete. Was really excited to see him here in this new role. We threw him out of the bullpen a few times in Triple-A, and I’m sure he was starting to add things up.”

Diaz said there is a mental adjustment to prepare for a bullpen role but he has experience relieving from his first minor league season. He was explained that making the switch gave him his best opportunity to get back to the majors this year to help the club.

Diaz and Lovullo expect his stuff to spike up, and the young arm said he plans to continue using all three pitches (fastball, slider and curveball). But there are some unknowns, particularly on how he would handle pitching on back-to-back days.

In a three-game wild card series, the Diamondbacks will have to decide — if they have not already — whether to use Diaz on the roster without needing all of their starters. Keeping Rodriguez and Jordan Montgomery seems a bit redundant in a short series if not starting.

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