Tensions flared between Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Jack Flaherty and the Diamondbacks during the seventh inning of Saturday’s loss. That beef likely stemmed from the way that both starting pitchers treated the mound during that game. Zac Gallen typically operates from the extreme third base side of the mound, with just the heel in contact with the rubber, while Flaherty has his full foot on the mound. Multiple times during the game, Gallen asked the grounds crew to fill in the mound before he pitched after Flaherty dug out a different spot.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!With the Diamondbacks already dealing with injuries to Merrill Kelly and Eduardo RodrÃguez, the team can ill-afford to lose Gallen for any extended stretch and stay in the playoff picture. He said that the right hamstring, which caused him to leave a previous start this season, started to feel tight around the fourth inning. It was the first time in his career that he asked the grounds crew to fix the mound during a game. He told the umpiring crew why he wanted the mound fixed and felt they were accommodating.
“You got two elite athletes that are stepping on the mound,” said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo. “I thought Larry Vanover did a great job in allowing the mounds to temporarily be rebuilt, it was a minute-and-a-half fix. Their starting pitcher had a particular way he wanted it, Zac wanted his a certain way for him. I thought it was really well done, there were no complaints on our side from what I thought was a really good major league umpire making a really good decision and allowing it to happen. You don’t want to have athletes get injured, we know Zac has had some hamstring issues, and the last thing I want him to do is come out of that spot he was long comfortable with and get banged up, and get injured, and walk off the mound.”
“It was more of an injury concern,” said Gallen after the game. “I was having trouble getting my foot how I wanted it to. I was looking after my own health, looking out for the team. The last thing I want to do is come out of the game, potentially on the IL, I just wanted to be safe.”
Zac Gallen said that having the grounds crew fix the mound between innings was more of an injury concern than anything else. Said his hamstring tightened up a bit in the fourth inning.
"I was looking out for my own health." pic.twitter.com/u39zwo3kmn
— Jesse Friedman (@JesseNFriedman) May 19, 2024
During the seventh inning, Flaherty started chirping towards the Diamondbacks dugout during a pitching change. That drew the ire of Lovullo and bench coach Jeff Banister.
Jack Flaherty and Torey Lovullo had some words for each other from across their dugouts pic.twitter.com/TRjsIuVIq6
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 19, 2024
“I thought there were some things that were coming out of their side that were really rubbing us the wrong way at a certain point and I had enough,” said Lovullo. “What everybody saw wasn’t the first thing that happened. We felt like there was more than that situation pop up and I had enough.”
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
