The Diamondbacks have an open spot to fill in their starting rotation after sending right-hander Slade Cecconi to Triple-A Reno before Wednesday’s win. They have three potential options on the 40-man roster to consider down in Triple-A, all eligible to be recalled to the major league roster between Tommy Henry, Blake Walston, and Cristian Mena.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Diamondbacks could have turned to the most experienced option in Henry, who has 32 career appearances and 31 starts. However, the results have not been great, with a career 4.71 ERA and 5.13 FIP in 164 1/3 innings. He was twice demoted to the minor leagues this season, coming up when injuries necessitated his stay in the rotation. After going through his start with Reno on Thursday, Henry is no longer an option to start Sunday.
The same is also true for Mena, who started on Wednesday and will not be able to pitch again before the team goes to Arlington on Tuesday to play the Rangers. He has since emerged as a potential candidate to join the rotation, thanks to a 3.42 ERA and a 25.6% strikeout rate in 10 starts, spanning 50 innings. However, he’s also buried on the starting pitcher depth chart behind Henry and Walston.
Instead what will most likely happen with the Diamondbacks rotation is either Brandon Pfaadt gets moved to Sunday to accommodate adding Henry to the rotation, or Walston will make his first career start. He has one major league appearance, throwing 3 2/3 innings in relief on May 1 in his debut before getting sent down to Reno. If the Diamondbacks want to make the least intrusive move, while at the same time getting a better opportunity to evaluate the 22-year-old lefty, then turning to Walston makes the most sense.
The Diamondbacks could deploy an opener ahead of Walston, using someone like Bryce Jarvis, Matt Bowman, or Justin Martinez to begin the game. It was a strategy that worked well in their series win over the Dodgers, plus would allow for a softer landing for the young left-hander.
Whoever steps in for Cecconi will likely get at least two starts, possibly more depending on Eduardo RodrÃguez’s and Merrill Kelly’s health. We’ll likely hear more from Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo on the status of the two veteran starters, and where they’re at in their progress from their respective shoulder injuries, before the game against the Marlins.
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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
