D-backs Still Undecided on Timing for Eduardo Rodríguez's Return

Ketel Marte is out with the flu for Tuesday night's game. Manager Torey Lovullo said Marte has "A lot of congestion, puffy eyes, bad sore throat, just not feeling even close to 100%. I just saw him for a few minutes, and he doesn't look well, he's resting."

Lovullo indicated that Marte may be available off the bench later tonight.

Eduardo Rodríguez

Eduardo Rodríguez is scheduled to throw a bullpen today and then pitch in a rehab game on Friday in the Arizona Complex league. He has been on the injured list since May 16 with shoulder inflammation and is not eligible to return before May 31.

Speaking yesterday, Lovullo could not commit to a Ryne Nelson start beyond this Sunday against the Washington Nationals. But Nelson's excellent outing Monday night may have changed that calculus.

Lovullo's tone in today's press conference with regards to Rodríguez seemed to be more of a slow-play than previous discussions. Since he previously threw a three-inning, 55-pitch simulation game, it originally sounded like Rodríguez's return could come soon after. But when asked if the ACL outing would be his last before coming off the injured list, Lovullo was non-committal.

"You want to know that answer, I don't know what that is. We haven't quite even crossed that bridge as to what will happen. So, I just want him to get through that in a very healthy way, get through his bullpen tomorrow, get through [the ACL start] in a healthy way, and we'll just figure out what to do next. We don't know what decision we're going to make right now," Lovullo said.

Another key point is whether or not Rodríguez will go on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Reno. Lovullo stated once again that that is his preference in almost all cases. But it's not up to him, it's up to the medical staff and sometimes even the player.

When Rodríguez was injured last year, he pitched simulation games at Salt River Fields but never went on a rehab assignment with Reno before coming back. Recently, Ketel Marte declined to go on a rehab assignment with Reno and had a slow initial week in MLB upon returning.

"You guys know my stance. I'm always in favor of guys going up and getting at-bats or getting those reps. I'm always in favor of getting somebody up and out to just get a live test run, a live dress rehearsal, and get the blood pumping the right way. Night game, drive to the ballpark, have your coffee, eat your lunch, prep your day, and then go out there and do it," Lovullo said.

The question was asked if the D-backs had considered using a six-man rotation, but Lovullo said they have not had those discussion yet. In reality, with off-days in the schedule on May 29 and June 2, and then again on June 12 and June 16, it's probably not workable, as that would actually cause pitchers to end up working on six and even seven days rest.

"It's a little bit of a challenge for us to figure out what we're going to do in dropping guys in, give them the right amount of rest," Lovullo said.

The front office and the medical staff will certainly drive the decisions around when Rodríguez can return and whether or not the team goes with a six-man rotation.

"I know what [GM Mike Hazen] likes to do around this time of the year is to insert somebody in a six-man rotation type of an equation to give everybody a little rest. But with two-off days that give us the potential to go six, seven in some cases, I think we're built in in that area. So we're going to utilize it to the best of our ability," Lovullo said.

Even if the D-backs don't go with a six-man rotation, we should expect there to be some changes to the rotation order. Whenever Rodríguez does slot back in will have an impact on that as well.

"We might shuffle some things around. We've been talking about doing that very much so. And also give us favorable matchups for that outing, the next outing, and the outing beyond that. So we're going to build out three, four outings. So we're talking through that right now. We have a lot of options," Lovullo said.

Related Content

Ryne Nelson Makes Statement with Dominant Start vs Pirates