SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The D-backs' Cactus League opener against the Rockies on Saturday at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick was canceled due to rain, but that didn’t stop players from getting their work in.

Alex Young, Archie Bradley, Bo Takahashi and Riley Smith had been scheduled to pitch in the game. Instead, they threw in the covered batting cages with hitters standing in the box but not swinging.

“It’s weird,” Young said. “Guys aren’t swinging, so it’s like, what would they be swinging at? I kind of have a sense of what guys would be swinging at. But I know what I need to do to work on my craft. I know what my strengths and weaknesses are. Overall, I felt really good today.”

It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it allowed pitchers to stay on schedule.

“What happens is, these pitching coaches and everyone around them build out the schedule for 30 days,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “And if you were to push everybody back, it wouldn’t just affect today. It would affect the rest of camp. We kept everything in line.”

That means that for Sunday's 1:10 p.m. MST game against the A's, Robbie Ray will start and be followed by Taylor Clarke, Junior Guerra, Yoan López and Kevin Ginkel.

As for position players, Lovullo constructs lineups several days in advance and everyone will just be pushed back one day.

Shortstop Nick Ahmed, right fielder Kole Calhoun, third baseman Jake Lamb and catcher Carson Kelly, who were scheduled to be in the starting lineup Saturday, will start on Sunday.

“The guys that were supposed to play tomorrow are going to play the following day," Lovullo said. "I know it’s a little frustrating for them, but I just want to keep that chart that I have that’s built out for several days. Even though it’s frustrating, I think the guys understand.”

Won’t take much

Mike Leake, who has a small fracture in his left (non-throwing) wrist, continues to throw bullpen sessions. The one thing that Leake can’t do at this point is catch return throws, but that doesn’t impact his ability to get his pitch count up.

Leake has begun catching tennis balls tossed softly to him as a way of keeping sharp.

Leake won’t be able to pitch in a Cactus League game until he’s able to fully field at his position, but as a veteran who doesn’t rely on velocity to get outs, he doesn’t feel he will need to have many games under his belt before Opening Day on March 26 against the Braves.

“The hope is to pitch in one or two game atmospheres and then hopefully I can be ready for that first one [in the regular season],” Leake said. “If I get one in, I’m fine. I’d like to get two. I’m obviously going to be building up, strength wise. The issue will be getting the full atmosphere. I think one outing -- maybe even none -- will do the job.”

Bumgarner update

Left-hander Madison Bumgarner will throw a live batting practice session on Sunday, after which the club will finalize when his first Cactus League outing will be.

“I still think it’s going to be Thursday [against the Reds] or Friday [against the Mariners] of next week,” Lovullo said. “That’s the target.”