SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Even for the best of pitchers, that first outing of the spring is always a challenge. But outside of a home run, Zac Gallen felt good about his Cactus League debut Monday.
“The first one’s always interesting,” Gallen said.
The right-hander threw one inning in Arizona's 4-3 win over the Guardians, allowing a homer to Gabriel Arias while striking out two. He threw 15 pitches, nine for strikes.
“I felt fine compared to how I felt in my last live [batting practice session],” Gallen said. “I'll take it, felt a lot better. Changeup was kind of flat on me, it was hit for the home run, but everything else felt pretty solid.”
Gallen even got to try out the new ABS challenge system when he challenged a ball call and got it reversed to a strike.
“It’s great because I’m 1-for-1,” Gallen said with a smile.
Gallen is a perfectionist, so he’s never going to be completely happy with his delivery. However, he felt better about it Monday than he did during his live batting practice session.
“The first time seeing hitters, your body's just gonna gradually tend to do things that are maybe a little uncomfortable,” Gallen said. “So over the last week or so, I've been really conscious of my delivery. I feel like today, it was a little bit more under control, kind of working back to feeling the leverage that I like to feel when I'm throwing. Then it’s just about getting the shapes [of pitches] to where I like them to be.”
Gallen and Corbin Burnes share the same agent in Scott Boras, so when Burnes reached his free-agent agreement with the D-backs in December, Boras called Gallen to let him know. The agent said it was the happiest he had ever heard Gallen.
So far this spring, the co-aces of the staff have not had a lot of time together, but Gallen said that would be different come the regular season.
“Our schedules have been a little different,” Gallen said. “I think he operates on a little earlier schedule than I do in terms of he gets in and gets the stuff done. I'm more of a guy who just kind of hangs around here and does my stuff later in the afternoon. So we kind of miss each other for breakfast and stuff like that, but we've been in groups for [drills].”
D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said he is still deciding whether he will start Gallen or Burnes on Opening Day. Right now, if he pitches every fifth game for the rest of spring, Gallen would line up to start the opener, but Lovullo has said not to read anything into that this early in spring.
“My sentiment about being the Opening Day starter is the same as the sentiment of being the ‘ace,’ or whatever they want to call it,” Gallen said. “When they put the lineup card out on a given day, and there's a No. 1 next to your name, you're the guy, you’re the ace.
“That's not to say that I don't take the potential honor of pitching Opening Day lightly, but at the same time, after Opening Day, the season goes on. It's an honor, so I would be honored to have it, but if Torey sees Corbin as the guy for the job, that’s OK. There’s a reason they brought him in here, so that's kind of where I'm at with it.”
Up next
The D-backs will play the Cubs in Mesa on Tuesday, with the two main candidates for the closer’s role -- lefty A.J. Puk and righty Justin Martinez -- getting a chance to pitch. Puk will start, while Martinez will pitch in relief. A dark horse candidate to close, Kevin Ginkel, is also slated to pitch.