D-backs are proceeding with caution when it comes to Zac Gallen

Prior to Tuesday’s spring training game, Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo acknowledged starting pitcher Zac Gallen may miss his first start of the regular season due to a shoulder injury. The D-backs are looking to be cautious with their young star after Gallen was diagnosed with bursitis in his right shoulder in December.

When asked if Gallen’s start was in jeopardy due to him being behind in preparation for the regular season, Lovullo all but confirmed that he will most likely not start in the first four games. This comes after the news relief pitcher J.B. Bukauskas will miss months due to a shoulder injury.

“I think we have to be very cautious, I’ll say that at this point,” Lovullo admitted. “You guys have been around long enough. You know the game and know how it works, so you’re probably on the right side.”

Gallen has been proceeding as normal with his throwing program in camp, but he has yet to appear in a spring training game.

“I had a brief conversation with the medical team about him, so we’re going to determine what the next steps are,” Lovullo added. “There might be one more live BP before we get him into a game, so I’ll keep you posted on that.”

Lovullo said the 26-year-old was feeling “great” after his live batting practice session on Monday. He alluded to the door being open for Gallen to still possibly make his first regular-season start on a shorter pitch-count leash.

“We’ll always consider that,” he said. “It’s just got to be the right guy in the right situation.”

Gallen — who spent three stints on the injured list in 2021 including one that caused him to miss Opening Day — has returned from injury in a similar fashion prior to being fully stretched out. Lovullo recalled how he had to pry the ball out of his hand to get him to leave the game after 75 pitches in that instance.

Gallen missed time to start last season with a hairline fracture in his forearm. He was also placed on the IL with a UCL tear in his right elbow in May and again later with a hamstring strain in July.

While the bursitis diagnosis is not related to the injuries from last year, it is cause for concern when it comes to one of the D-backs’ brightest stars. Zac Gallen set an MLB record for consecutive starts to open a career with three or fewer runs allowed in 23 games in 2020. Over the past three seasons, he is 9-15 in 43 starts for Arizona with a 3.57 ERA, 274 strikeouts, a 1.232 WHIP, and a WAR of 5.9. He has arguably been their best acquisition in the last 10 years.

“I feel like I’m in a pretty good spot with it,” Gallen said last week after his first bullpen session at Salt River Fields. “We’re just taking it day by day, but after today it felt pretty good.”

An MRI in December confirmed there was nothing structurally wrong, so he didn’t shut down his throwing program due to the injury.

“I just talked with my agent and their medical staff and whatnot, and they were like ‘Listen, if it’s not crazy, just keep throwing. You don’t really want to set yourself back if you can tolerate the discomfort,'” Gallen said. “So I just kept throwing, trying to build up as best as I could. It didn’t necessarily go as fast as I would have, but yeah, for the most part I never really put down the ball.”

We will have a clearer idea on Zac Gallen’s status for Opening Day after this week. If he does throw another live batting practice prior to his first spring training start, all signs point to him missing the first week of the regular season.

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