D-backs' starting pitching struggles amplified amid key injuries

PHOENIX -- There’s no question the D-backs starting rotation has been decimated by injuries this season. Of their projected five-man staff in Spring Training, three of them are currently on the injured list.

And not just any trio, but in Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez, you’re talking about the first three pitchers penciled into the rotation.

Given that, along with injuries to key position players like Geraldo Perdomo and Alek Thomas, the fact that the D-backs have hovered around the .500 mark to this point in the season is impressive, but that’s not the mindset that manager Torey Lovullo wants his team to have.

“I don't want us to just hold serve,” Lovullo said. “I want us to break serve a few times. I feel like we have the ability and the type of players who can go out there and run the table for a couple weeks.”

Sometimes it seems the D-backs are on the verge of going on a run. They blew out the Padres in the final game of a four-game set at Petco Park on Sunday and then after an off-day Monday they took it to the Angels on Tuesday night.

Wednesday, though, starter Slade Cecconi struggled mightily as the Angels knocked him around in an 8-3 D-backs loss at Chase Field.

Cecconi allowed seven runs on 10 hits and lasted just three-plus innings, continuing what has been a tough couple of turns through the rotation.

“Starting pitching for us today I felt like could have been better,” Lovullo said. “Slade needs to be on the attack, work his fastball on the edges and complement that with some secondary stuff. It’s a grind, I’m not gonna lie, it's a grind when you're starting pitching gives you three, possibly four innings, and it's happened a couple of times now. So we're looking for some of these guys to step up, pitch deep into the game, take a little pressure and a little stress off our bullpen.”

With the injuries, the D-backs have run through a lot of their depth options. Ryne Nelson, Tommy Henry and Cecconi are in the rotation right now and Blake Walston, who was called up earlier, is on the injured list.

That leaves only Cristian Mena and Humberto Castellanos as starters in the Minors who are currently on the 40-man roster.

The D-backs were hoping to give Mena, who is just 21, more development time, and Castellanos can only be called up if there’s an injury since he was optioned to Triple-A Reno just last week. A pitcher optioned to the Minors has to stay there for at least 15 days before being recalled unless he’s replacing an injured player.

“It's an incredible opportunity for some of our young pitchers to go out and get this opportunity to show us what they can do,” Lovullo said. “And we've seen it in spurts and that's what spoils us. We just want to be consistent. We want guys to land all their pitches, follow the game plan.”

Cecconi has had good outings in his nine appearances (eight starts) this year, but there have also been rough ones.

Lovullo didn’t say one way or the other when asked if Cecconi would start the next time his turn in the rotation comes around.

“We haven't had any of those discussions,” Lovullo said. “I want it to be Slade, but we gotta have guys get the job done and go out there and show us that they're able to execute.”