Henry makes 'wrong decision'; Melancon rests

Walker fine after HBP, Rojas set to return; Rivera swinging red-hot bat in Classic

March 15th, 2023

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- faced 16 batters in his start during Tuesday afternoon’s 7-6 loss to the Giants and he threw 66 pitches -- only one of which he’d like to have back.

Henry, who is competing for the No. 5 spot in the D-backs’ rotation with , and , allowed four runs on three hits and three walks over 3 1/3 innings. Three of those runs came on the one pitch he regretted -- a 2-2 fastball to J.D. Davis that was hit for a homer.

“Not necessarily because it was a homer,” Henry said. “I mean, obviously [it was a] negative result, but just kind of made the wrong decision. I threw the pitch with full conviction, full belief in it, but upon reflecting on it, I think it was the wrong decision.”

Peeling back the curtain a little bit more, Henry talked about why a breaking ball might have been a better choice in that situation.

“Just threw a good fastball hitter too many fastballs in one at-bat,” Henry said. “I saw some things that would have suggested to throw other pitches and I still threw the heater. I just felt overly convicted in the heater in the moment, and kind of removing those emotions and trying to be logical about it, there were better pitches at the time.”

Backing off Melancon

Right-hander Mark Melancon was scheduled to pitch in Monday’s game against the Rangers, but he has been experiencing some fatigue and the team decided to give him a short amount of downtime.

Melancon last appeared in a game on Friday night against the Reds.

“He's fine,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I just think he's just gassed out just a little bit. He works hard. He works as hard as any pitcher I have ever been around. So we're just pulling back a little bit. Let him catch his breath.”

Tidbits

• First baseman Christian Walker, who was hit by a pitch just above his left hip on Monday, said he was fine. Lovullo said Walker spent the morning getting treatment rather than participating in drills and he should be back in the lineup soon.

• Third baseman Josh Rojas, who has missed the last several games with general fatigue, is expected to be back in the lineup against either the Brewers or Giants in Wednesday’s split-squad games.

• Third baseman Emmanuel Rivera, who is playing for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, had another big game on Monday as he collected two hits, including a triple, in a 10-0 win over Israel. It was the second straight game with two hits for Rivera.

• Former D-backs catcher Tuffy Gosewisch teamed up with Chris Garagiola on the webcast of Tuesday’s game. Gosewisch and former pitcher Josh Collmenter will serve at analysts during select road games during the 2023 season.

Up next

The D-backs have split-squad games scheduled for Wednesday with an afternoon game against the Giants (2 p.m. MST) and a night game against the Brewers (Watch on MLB.TV or listen free at 7:40 p.m.). Both are at Salt River Fields.

Madison Bumgarner is set to start the day game with Pfaadt, who is competing for the No. 5 spot in Arizona's rotation, set to go in the nightcap. The day game features a pair of pitchers who are strongly in the running for one of the final bullpen spots in Corbin Martin and Jeurys Familia.