Diamondbacks' Zac Gallen could miss first start with sore forearm?

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zac Gallen might soon find himself a fan of the National League potentially embracing the designated hitter as soon as the 2022 season. 

Per Steve Gilbert of the official MLB website, Gallen was scratched from his scheduled spring training start on Monday due to soreness in his right lateral forearm linked with a batting practice session off a pitching machine on March 10. 

The 25-year-old underwent an MRI on Sunday and a CT and X-rays on Monday and was still awaiting an official diagnosis when Gilbert's story was published. During the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Gallen compiled a 3-2 record with a 2.75 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 72 innings. He finished ninth in NL Cy Young Award voting.

"It's just not the news you want to hear," manager Torey Lovullo said when speaking with reporters. "You want to start having guys prep and get ready for the season. So I'm not going to sugarcoat it and say that it's OK. We're obviously going to get him evaluated and figure out what the best thoughts are moving forward. And we don't know any of this information right now. So yeah, it's not it's not anything I was prepared to hear today." 

Gallen added that he noticed the discomfort only when throwing curveballs.  

"I don’t think we have all the information, so it’s tough to say, but I think it’s definitely a positive that I’ve pitched with it, pitched in two games now," he explained. "The rest of my stuff has felt fine. The rust is coming off, and those pitches were feeling better, so I think that in and of itself was a positive. Of course, you’re going to be concerned, probably overly concerned than maybe one needs to be. At the same time, I know between the training staff here and the training staff at my agency, everyone is going to put me in the best hands possible to get this figured out and get me back to 100 percent, and back on the field as healthy as one would hope to be." 

Arizona begins the regular season on April 1.