Notes: MadBum throws sim game; Locastro

Madison Bumgarner got three innings of work in during a simulated game on a backfield at Salt River Fields on Wednesday.

Part of the reason for Bumgarner to pitch in that setting was to keep the Dodgers, who the D-backs played Wednesday night, from getting another look at him, but it also gave the left-hander a chance to work on some sequencing with his offspeed pitches.

"I've tried today to do a lot of things that I'm not comfortable with, to get more comfortable with them," Bumgarner said. "So it felt a little sloppier, but still not too bad. I mean, it's a simulated game for me and other guys, so it's not quite the same intensity, but we try to make it as close as we can. And I feel pretty good. I mean, I did things to try to get better today."

What those specific things were, well, Bumgarner wasn't going to say, preferring to not broadcast them.

"I just liked some of the secondary stuff that he was continuing to throw and it looked like he was trying to develop a feel for that," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "That's what it looked like. That's what I would say from watching from the side."

Injury updates
Nick Ahmed, who was scratched from Monday's starting lineup with soreness in his right knee, will likely be back in the lineup Friday against the Angels following Thursday's off-day.

The D-backs are also expected to get outfielder Tim Locastro back in camp Saturday. Locastro has been out for almost 10 days after Lovullo said he tested positive for COVID-19.

Contract not a concern
While D-backs team president/CEO Derrick Hall said Wednesday that a new contract for Lovullo, who is in the final year of his deal, was not a pressing issue for the organization, he did say that if Lovullo felt it needed to be discussed now, they would accommodate him.

That, though, is not something Lovullo wants to bring up.

"I appreciate that, but I don't want to be a distraction," Lovullo said. "This is not a time for anything to be about me. This is about the players and I feel very strongly about that. I want to let this thing go the way it's supposed to go and do my best and be evaluated for the things that that I can control, and that's being prepared and doing my job every single day."