DENVER -- As expected, the D-backs will recall right-hander Taylor Clarke on Tuesday to start against the Rays at Tropicana Field.

Clarke will be taking the rotation spot of Zack Godley, who has been demoted to the bullpen after struggling to a 7.58 ERA in his first six starts of the year.

“We love Taylor Clarke,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “We’ve seen him come up here and execute a gameplan.”

The 24-year-old Clarke displayed that when he tossed three shutout innings in relief to finish up Arizona’s 6-0 win over the Cubs on April 20 at Wrigley Field.

“I think it was everything you hope for in a young player that comes up and transitions smoothly,” Lovullo said of the outing. “It was the same guy that I saw the first time I saw him throw on the back fields at Salt River [Fields at Talking Stick]. That was exactly what he did at Wrigley. There’s something to be said for that because young players can’t transition that easily. So we feel like he’s going to be ready for this. We feel like he’s been battle tested in that environment and we feel like it’s going to be a pretty seamless transition for him to have a very successful start.”

How many starts Clarke will make remains to be seen and will likely be dictated not only by his performance each outing, but also how Godley throws in relief.

“We’re going to take it probably five days by five days,” Lovullo said.

The D-backs also have not decided who they will option off the roster to make room for Clarke. It is expected to be a position player, which would give them an extra pitcher on the staff, but that appears to be up for debate.

“It will probably depend on what happens over the next couple of days and how the guys are used and what kind of needs we will have,” Lovullo said.

Swihart staying sharp

When they acquired him in a trade with the Red Sox on April 19, the D-backs said they did not plan on using Blake Swihart behind the plate. Instead, they wanted to give him some time at the corner outfield spots and hoped that would help jumpstart his bat.

Now that they have gone down to two catchers on the roster, however, with Carson Kelly and John Ryan Murphy, the D-backs have decided to have Swihart start catching some bullpen sessions. He did that for the first time on Saturday at Coors Field.

“We just felt like it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep him semi-sharp by catching bullpens,” Lovullo said. “He’s a very unique guy because he can catch. He can play any position on the field. There’s a lot of value in that, and we want to utilize that strength.”

Injury updates

Taijuan Walker (Tommy John surgery last April) threw a 34-pitch bullpen session on Friday and is scheduled to throw four innings in an extended spring training game Monday.

Walker will be caught in that game by Alex Avila (left quadriceps strain). Avila caught four innings Saturday in an extended spring game.