Tommy Henry Embraces Competition for 5th Starter

Left-hander Tommy Henry is one of the pitchers competing for the fifth and final spot in the starting rotation. While the competition is spirited between young starters hungry for an opportunity, it also has a friendly and collegial vibe behind it.

"We've come up together and we know each other," said Henry on the Bickley and Marotta Show. "We're doing anything we can to help each other, push each other, make each other better. At the end of the day, it's obvious to everyone that we all want that spot. We all want to earn that."

In his second year with the D-backs he went 5-4 with a 4.15 ERA in 17 games (16 starts), but an elbow injury held him out from August onwards. What was initially supposed to be a two-week recovery time ended up carrying through the postseason and ultimately shut down after the National League Championship series.

"I learned a lot through that process of battling the mental side of it, the frustration, and not letting that affect your work on a daily basis" said Henry. "Thankfully during the playoffs, we were able to build back up to 3-4 innings."

Even though he didn't return to action in 2023, the left-hander was able to have a normal offseason and focus on improving. D-backs general manager Mike Hazen said that a healthy Henry has a leg up on the competition. Manager Torey Lovullo stated that they wanted to see better fastball command from him. 

So far he's off to an excellent start, twirling five scoreless innings with five strikeouts across two appearances. In those two starts, he's showcased better fastball command and showcased a really good changeup yesterday against the Cleveland Guardians. He's gotten a lot of early-count outs, as evidenced by needing only 51 pitches to get 15 outs. For Henry, yesterday felt like a big jump, going from two to three innings.

"The two to three jump feels like the first real start of the day. Two you can already use kind of still a bullpen. That third up, your body's treating it more like a start."

The D-backs will ultimately decide who will be their fifth starter after Spring Training, but Henry is not taking his spot in the pecking order for granted. As he continues to ramp up this spring, he's in a good position to earn that fifth spot.