The Diamondbacks will take on their World Series foe Texas Rangers today at Salt River Fields. Game time is 1:10 P.M. You can listen to the call of the game on the MLB TV App.
Eduardo Rodríguez gets his first cactus league start for the D-backs. Previously scheduled to start on February 23rd, he instead threw a live bullpen session against hitters on the backfields. Rodríguez signed a four-year, $80 million dollar contract with the team this off-season and figures to be a mainstay in the rotation along with Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. The veteran left-hander has pitched in 202 major league games, totaling 1,100 innings. He has a an 82-53 record and a 4.03 ERA, or 112 ERA+ for his career, along with 18 WAR. 2023 was one of his better seasons as he went 13-9 with a 3.30 ERA, 134 ERA+ in 153 innings.
Lineups
Today is "infield day" for the Diamondbacks, with all of the starting infielders in the lineup. Joc Pederson was originally in the lineup in left field, but has been switched out for A.J. Vukovich. As of this writing we don't know what the issue is, but will update after we speak with Torey Lovullo at noon. Yesterday Lovullo reported that Alek Thomas was dealing with some wrist soreness and newly signed outfielder Randall Grichuk has not yet been cleared for baseball activities. Grichuk had surgery to remove bone spurs in his heel in January.
Other pitchers expected to appear after Rodríguez are Bryce Jarvis, Miguel Castro and Scott McGough. Jarvis is supposedly being stretched out as a starter, so we expect him to pitch at least a couple of innings, or throw about 35 pitches.
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