Gallen tinkering; Moreno OK after fastball to hand

March 19th, 2023

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- got in 4 2/3 innings of work in what figures to be his next-to-last start of the spring in the D-backs' 6-4 win over the Guardians on Saturday afternoon.

The first four innings were a breeze for the right-hander with only one run allowed, but three would come around to score in a fifth inning that also saw him commit a balk.

“The first four innings I thought were pretty good,” Gallen said. “Ball felt like it was coming out of my hand decent. I was having trouble with the cutter, but everything else -- slider, changeup, curveball -- felt pretty good. And that fifth was just like a little wacky. The balk, a couple of stolen bases and the ball didn’t feel like it was coming out as great. Like I was losing a bit of life.”

Gallen was able to incorporate a slight adjustment to his delivery that he made during his last between-starts side session. The tweak was in response to him flying open with his front shoulder a little too much.

At this stage of the spring, he’s working on fine-tuning each of his pitches to make sure they are ready for his first regular-season start.

“I'd say there was probably a good amount of scenarios today where I probably threw pitches that I wouldn't normally throw in counts and scenarios,” Gallen said. “Maybe a lot more changeups in situations that I wouldn't throw them in, maybe some sliders, but I just want to get a feel for that and being able to land those for a strike or get a swing and miss. I went with a lot of cutters today just because I want to get the feel for that. It's just kind of working on stuff but at the same time, you know, competing and still trying to get outs.”

Avoiding injury (hopefully)
The D-backs got a scare in the fifth inning when catcher was hit in the left hand by a 95.5 mph fastball.

Moreno was immediately removed from the game, but he said afterwards that he believes he escaped any serious injury.

As of right now, there is no plan for him to undergo any further testing.

Taking advantage of the situation
It was sunny and windy Saturday morning, and manager Torey Lovullo decided to make use of the conditions by having the position players go through a number of drills, including popup priority drills that forced them to deal with the elements.

The D-backs don’t get that opportunity often during the regular season because they play in a ballpark with a retractable roof.

“The conditions are a little different than what we're used to at home,” Lovullo said. “We don't get to practice in this type of stuff very often. So we took advantage of the day. We did an entire team fundamental [practice].”

Some of the drill went well. Other parts did not, and those were emphasized and corrected.

“I made my point that we’ve got to get used to playing in these types of conditions,” Lovullo said. “There's no excuse for not making plays because of the wind.”

Getting the pitching lined up
The rainout of last Wednesday’s day game, as well as the rain-shortened game that night, jumbled up the D-backs’ pitching schedule quite a bit.

In an attempt to get things back in line, pitched in a Minor League game against the Angels on Friday while his teammates played the Rockies.

“We’re so backed up because of the rain and scheduled off-days that we’ve got to find innings for guys on the back fields,” Lovullo said. “They're getting their innings and they're getting their reps and that's the most important thing.”

Up next
The D-backs will host the Royals on Sunday afternoon, with starting. The left-hander is competing for the No. 5 spot in the rotation with Jameson, and .

, who has already been reassigned to Minor League camp, will start Monday’s game against the White Sox.