The Arizona Diamondbacks open their second road trip of the 2023 season with a three-game set at the Miami Marlins. Game 1 is Friday at 3:40 p.m. MST.
The game can be seen on Bally Sports Arizona.
Mantiply turns in clean outing on rehab assignment
Left-hander Joe Mantiply, the Diamondbacks’ top reliever last season, fired a scoreless inning in a rehab outing for Double-A Amarillo on Wednesday.
Mantiply is scheduled to pitch one more time for Amarillo on Saturday, manager Torey Lovullo said, at which point the club will determine his next step.
“We’ll see where he is at that point,” Lovullo said, “but he is trending towards a healthy return here.”
Mantiply, the club’s lone All-Star last season, posted a 2.85 ERA in 60 innings last season. He struck out 61 and walked just six.
“He’s our All-Star, our guy who had an unbelievable year last year,” Lovullo said. “You add him to a bullpen with two really good lefties, he’s not just a left-handed specialist. He’s a guy who can get righties out as well. He’s a quality bullpen piece that we miss. We’ll get him back and it’ll make us that much better.”
The Diamondbacks decided near the end of spring training that they did not want to carry three left-handers in the bullpen, but Kyle Nelson apparently has pitched well enough that those plans have changed.
Nelson was optioned late in camp but was recalled when Mantiply went on the injured list. He has given up just one run in 5 2/3 innings, with one walk and nine strikeouts.
Andrew Chafin is the Diamondbacks’ other left-handed reliever.
Prospect Blaze Alexander sent back to Arizona after hit by pitch
Diamondbacks prospect Blaze Alexander has been sent back to Arizona to be evaluated after he was hit by a pitch on the right hand on Thursday night in a game with Triple-A Reno, farm director Josh Barfield said.
Alexander, a shortstop, was off to a terrific start for Reno, going 11 for 24 (.458) with three doubles, a triple and a homer. Perhaps just as encouraging, he had drawn eight walks compared to six strikeouts.
For Alexander, who was placed on the Reno injured list, the fact he is being sent back to see a team doctor is an indication the injury is considered serious.
Alexander, 23, was added to the Diamondbacks’ 40-man roster after last season. He hit a combined .301/.389/.540 between Double-A and Triple-A last year.
Diamondbacks at Marlins
When: 3:40 p.m., Friday.
Where: loanDepot park.
Pitchers: Diamondbacks LHP Madison Bumgarner (0-1, 7.27) vs. Marlins LHP Trevor Rogers (0-2, 6.00).
TV/Radio: Bally Sports Arizona/KTAR-AM (620), KHOV-FM (105.1).
Bumgarner’s normal day to pitch was Wednesday but he was bumped back to Friday, giving way for RHP Drey Jameson to start against the Brewers. … Bumgarner has had two rough outings so far this season, both coming against the Dodgers. He gave up five runs in four innings at Dodger Stadium, then allowed three runs (two earned) in 4 2/3 innings at Chase Field last week. … Counting his final 10 starts of last season, Bumgarner has given up 50 earned runs in his past 63 innings (7.14 ERA) while allowing a .973 OPS to opposing hitters. … Rogers logged a 2.64 ERA in 25 starts in 2021 but was not able to recapture that form last year, when he had a 5.47 ERA in 23 starts. … He has not thrown well in either of his two starts this season, both of them coming against the New York Mets. He has four walks, three hit batters and two home runs allowed in nine innings. … He faced the Diamondbacks once last season and was hit hard, allowing five runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Coming up
Saturday: At Miami, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (1-0, 4.91) vs. Marlins LHP Braxton Garrett (0-0, 4.70).
Sunday: At Miami, 10:40 a.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (1-1, 4.58) vs. Marlins RHP Sandy Alcantara (1-1, 5.79).
Monday: At St. Louis, 4:45 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (0-2, 2.93) vs. Cardinals RHP Jack Flaherty (1-1, 1.76).
Rewind:Diamondbacks, Lovullo make statements in winning series vs. Milwaukee Brewers
Up next: Miami Marlins
The Marlins are coming off a series victory against the Philadelphia Phillies. They also took two of three from the Twins in their second series of the year. However, they already have dropped five of seven games to the New York Mets this year, making them 6-7 overall. The Marlins’ offense is averaging just 3.15 runs per game, last in the National League. Their staff ERA of 5.09 is third from the bottom. 2B Luis Arraez, acquired from the Twins in the deal that sent RHP Pablo Lopez to Minnesota, has been off to a terrific start for his new team, going 23 for 46 (.500) with four doubles, a triple, a homer and six walks compared to just four strikeouts. On Tuesday, he became the first player since the Marlins began play in 1993 to hit for the cycle. Former Diamondbacks prospect CF Jazz Chisholm Jr., who was traded for RHP Zac Gallen in July 2019, is off to a so-so start. He has two homers, four walks and three steals, but he already has struck out 20 times in 48 at-bats. DH Jorge Soler (four homers) and 1B Garrett Cooper (three homers) have provided some pop. LHP Jesus Luzardo has thrown well so far, logging a 1.93 ERA with 20 strikeouts and four walks in 18 2/3 innings. The Diamondbacks will miss him this weekend. RHP Sandy Alcantara, the reigning Cy Young winner in the NL, gave up nine runs in four-plus innings in his most recent start after tossing a complete-game shutout in the outing before that.
Diamondbacks to celebrate Jackie Robinson
Starting on Friday the Diamondbacks will partner with Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day and to honor his legacy.
The team, which will be out of town on Jackie Robinson Day (Saturday) and plans to celebrate during the next homestand, has two events planned this week, both at MLB Arizona Diamondbacks Branch Teen Center, 548 W. Southern Ave, Phoenix:
Friday: Teen Movie Night, 4-7 p.m.
30 participating club members will attend a viewing of the film “42,” with a discussion to follow around the significance of Jackie Robinson, his values and what they mean to them. The late Chadwick Boseman starred in the 2013 film that dramatized Robinson breaking the MLB color barrier on April 15, 1947.
Panelists include Edwin Jackson, The Player’s Alliance; Travis Hardin, Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church and former Minor League baseball player; and Arizona State Representative Marcelino Quiñonez.
Saturday: Jackie Robinson Day Clinic, 9 a.m.-noon
The D-backs Academy, RBI team and Nike will host a free immersive clinic for the members of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley on how to play the Jackie Robinson way. The clinic will take place on the field with stations, exhibition games and a post-event lunch.
April 20: Jackie Robinson Day Celebration at Chase Field
During the game against San Diego, the Diamondbacks will pay tribute to Robinson, starting with the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation’s annual contribution to support scholarship opportunities for the MLB Arizona Diamondbacks Branch of Boys & Girls Club of the Valley with a $4,200 charitable gift in honor of Jackie Robinson’s number 42.
Before the game, the national anthem will be performed by the Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, who will also perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” The ceremonial first pitch will be thrown by Richard Yarbough, an administrator at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church. Yarbough played baseball for two years at USC.
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