SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Brandon Beachy didn't pitch well in the Dodgers' 11-8 loss to the D-backs on Friday, and he didn't sound well after it.
"Frustrating. I was pretty bad," Beachy said after needing 64 pitches to get through two-plus innings, charged with six earned runs to go along with the four walks he issued.
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After a 40-pitch second inning, Beachy's fastball velocity dropped by three miles per hour. That raised the obvious question of whether Beachy, who has undergone Tommy John surgery twice, was healthy.
"Yeah, I think so," he said.
Two of Beachy's three appearances this spring have been starts. He has allowed six runs (all on Friday) with seven walks and two strikeouts over seven innings for a 7.71 ERA.
On Monday it will be exactly two years since Beachy underwent the second elbow reconstruction. After an up-and-down 2015 spent mostly in the Minor Leagues, he proclaimed himself "a normal player" when camp opened and no longer rehabbing. He came into his Friday start as a finalist, along with Mike Bolsinger and Zach Lee, for the Dodgers' fifth-starter opening created by the back injury to Brett Anderson.
Beachy's problem on Friday?
"Strikes. Couldn't throw them when I needed to throw them. I did a better job getting ahead today other than a few at-bats, but just couldn't make quality pitches. Just threw non-competitive pitch after non-competitive pitch and I let it get away from me.
"I'm just trying to execute and prove to myself that I can make pitches in the game that I make in the bullpen routinely. Right now there's just a disconnect with my rhythm and timing. Some pitches are just wastes. I just wasn't very good in general. I felt I was better with my curveball and changeup than I have all spring. The fastball, at times I made really good pitches. But I get off a little in the rhythm and I go from 1-2 to 3-2 and leave stuff up."
Manager Dave Roberts said Beachy is "still trying to find himself and be the guy he was before the surgery." Roberts said he wants "as much time as I can get" before naming a fifth starter.
Beachy wouldn't blame the start on past injuries.
"That's a crutch and I can't use that," he said. "I'm here to compete for a job and play baseball, not be a story of perseverance. I want to be a baseball player."