'A great day' for Lovullo as Gallen throws first live session

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Diamondbacks opened their Cactus League schedule Friday at Salt River Fields, but there was a live batting-practice session on a backfield that drew a lot of attention prior to that.

It was the first such session for right-hander Zac Gallen, who re-signed with the Diamondbacks five days prior, and manager Torey Lovullo as well as general manager Mike Hazen and his staff were on hand to watch.

"I didn't get a chance to talk to him and find out what he was going to work on," Lovullo said. "But the fastball command looked good. It looked like he was throwing a nice cutter, his breaking ball I think was trending in a very positive direction. So overall, I know he's a perfectionist, he's going to probably tell you it was a good day, but for me to watch Zac in our uniform on that mound, it was a great day."

Gallen threw around 20 pitches and doesn't appear to be far behind, if at all, the other starting pitchers despite missing the first four days of camp. He said he got some good feedback from the hitters he faced.

"I felt pretty good," Gallen said. “I felt like the ball was coming out pretty good and the shapes were pretty consistent. From a hitter’s standpoint, it sounded like everything was coming out of the same spot. For the first one, I felt like it was a pretty good live."

Gallen became a free agent at the end of last season and declined Arizona's qualifying offer in order to test the market.

At that point, it appeared his time in a Diamondbacks' uniform was over, but as Spring Training approached and he remained unsigned, the two sides came to an agreement on a one-year, $22.025 million deal, the same as the qualifying offer, with $14.025 deferred.

Gallen doesn't consider himself behind the other pitchers because he had been throwing at a private facility as the opening of camp approached.

After watching how Jordan Montgomery struggled after signing a free-agent deal just after Opening Day in 2024, the Diamondbacks did not want a repeat with Gallen and set a deadline on the negotiations.

"When we first heard 'deadline,' it was like, 'Is that a hardball deadline or is that a let’s get you in camp deadline?'" Gallen said. "Talking with Haze and all those guys after, they were like, ‘Hey we just wanted to get you to camp and have as normal and regular as we can. We’ve seen where it’s gone sideways.’"

Had Gallen remained unsigned for another week, he was going to look at finding some hitters he could throw to in live batting-practice sessions.

It became a moot point when he was able to reach an agreement with the Diamondbacks.

Up next
Diamondbacks fans will get their first look at part of the return the team got for Merrill Kelly at last year's Trade Deadline on Saturday when left-hander Mitch Bratt starts against the Rockies at Salt River Fields at 1:10 p.m. MST.

Arizona dealt Kelly -- who re-signed with the team in the offseason for two-years, $40 million -- to the Rangers in exchange for Bratt, fellow lefty Kohl Drake and right-hander David Hagaman, three highly regarded pitching prospects.