Torey Lovullo Regrets Having to Push Zac Gallen Back

The Arizona Diamondbacks made a puzzling decision for Wednesday's game, opting to push right-hander Zac Gallen back a day and go with a surprise bullpen game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

That bullpen game did not fare well. Jalen Beeks and Nabil Crismatt combined to give up eight runs, and Arizona was blanked for an ugly 8-0 shutout to lose a series they desperately needed to win.

Related Content: Torey Lovullo Explains D-backs' Bullpen Game vs Dodgers

On Friday, in his weekly appearance with Arizona Sports 98.7's Burns & Gambo, manager Torey Lovullo expressed regret about needing to move Gallen back to Friday.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Torey Lovullo On Pushing Zac Gallen Back

"I wish we could go back and undo it. I wish Zac would have been 100%," Lovullo said.

"This was not Zac's decision. He could have pitched, but would he have been 100%? Maybe. We know what he can pitch like when he's not 100%, but we felt like giving him one more day was going to give him the opportunity to go out today and function at 100%."

Hindsight is 20-20. The ultimate fact is the D-backs did not score a single run against LA. Perhaps they would have won if he had pitched, perhaps Gallen would have been shelled by the Dodgers, or perhaps an ace-like outing would have gone to waste. We'll never know.

Gallen had pitched while feeling under the weather in his most recent start against the Philadelphia Phillies. He turned in a sturdy effort, going seven strong innings with three earned runs and nine strikeouts.

Lovullo shared the story of the interaction he had with his right-hander ahead of that previous outing.

"Zac comes in from his warm-up in his last start, and he's eating watermelon, and he's eating some food, and I'm like, 'Are you okay?' And he's like, 'I'm going to give you everything I got.' So I think he emptied his tank in his last outing, to be honest with you, where he wasn't feeling 100%. "

"In true Zac fashion, he goes out there with not feeling 100% and absolutely emptied his fuel level and emptied his tank," Lovullo said. "I felt like the most humane thing to do would be to give him one more day after emptying his tank so heavily in his last start."

Gallen has had a difficult 2025 season, but he's certainly been able to buckle down and provide the D-backs with quality innings in the second half as they search for an improbable playoff berth.

Gallen will make his last start of the regular season on Friday, in a game that may become an elimination game, depending on the outcome of the Reds and Mets games.

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