Torey Lovullo Addresses Eduardo Rodriguez's Lack of Hustle Friday Night

Torey Lovullo had some interesting comments during Saturday's pre game press conference.

Eduardo Rodriguez's Lack of Hustle

There were two moments during his third-inning meltdown Friday night in which Eduardo Rodriguez did not appear to be hustling. One was on a bunt by Chris Taylor that the pitcher seemed to have little interest in getting off the mound and fielding. This was picked up and commented on during the Dbacks.TV broadcast.

The play came on the heels of a throwing error by Josh Naylor, and a clearly exasperated Rodriguez seemed to have lost focus by that point. Asked if he were upset about it, Lovullo said "A little bit."

But there was another play earlier in the game in which Rodriguez failed to back up home on a Shohei Ohtani double on which Miguel Rojas scored. This caught the manager's ire to a much greater degree.

"I'm more upset that he didn't back up home plate than I am not getting off the mound. So that type of stuff bugs the F out of me." Lovullo said both he and the coaches spoke to Rodriguez about the situation.

Roster moves

As reported earlier today, the Diamondbacks recalled Joe Mantiply from Triple-A Reno and optioned Cristian Mena back down. Mena threw 46 pitches in 3.1 scoreless inning of long relief Friday night and would not be available for at least 5 days.

Lovullo shared what he told Mena last night. "We mentioned to him last night that this should be a catalyst for him to go down and continue fighting to be the next guy up when there is a need."

Mantiply gave up 13 runs in 7.1 innings this year before being sent to Reno on April 18. In six innings with the Aces he gave up four run, two earned, for a 3.00 ERA on six hits, including a homer. Lovullo acknowledged that Mantiply needed a mental break, but the issues were deeper than that.

"The stuff for me was not what we remember it," Lovullo said. "And maybe the depth of a sinker, the consistency of the sinker that he has, it's a very good pitch. The ability to spin the ball the right way. Fundamentally, I just think there were some things he needed to work on."

Kendall Gravemen's Return

After his second successful rehab outing with Reno, Graveman appears to be on the doorstep of returning. "He's checked a lot of the boxes and he's getting very close. Where that is right now, we're not sure, but I want to see it through his eyes. I want to hear from the medical team as well where they feel he's at. And we're extremely close."

6-Man Rotation

The team is still kicking around the idea of going with a six-man rotation for one turn through the order. They have not yet had full communications with the pitchers yet, but expect to make a final decision within the next 24-36 hours.

"If we decided to do it, it would be to give some guys an extra day, give them a one or two-day blow. And we believe in that. Is it that time right now in the season where the starters need a little bit of a blow? I don't know. Our starters are throwing the ball pretty good. So we've got to figure that out. But it involves [Ryne Nelson]. We know that," Lovullo said.