Diamondbacks Need Zac Gallen to Come Up Big Against Yankees

With the bullpen gassed from last night, the Diamondbacks need their ace to have "a typical Zac outing" tonight.

Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen reacts to a called ball four against the Rockies during Opening Day. / Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY

After last night's drubbing by the Yankees, the Diamondbacks find themselves in a tough position with their bullpen tonight. They will need their Opening Day starter, Zac Gallen, to pitch like the ace he was last season. Manager Torey Lovullo is looking for "a typical Zac outing", where he goes 6-7 innings and walks off the mound with the lead. In 18 starts following a loss in 2023, including the postseason, he averaged 6 1/3 innings and pitched to a 2.49 ERA and left with a lead in 11 of them.

The question for Gallen and the D-backs is if that pitcher shows up tonight. The key will be watching his four-seam fastball. In his first start in 2024, Gallen's fastball averaged 91.8 MPH. That's two ticks down from his 2023 average velocity of 93.6 MPH. Beyond velocity, his fastball has less "rise" from the hitter's perspective. In the first half of 2023, Gallen's four-seamer averaged 17.2 inches of rise. In the second half, that number dropped to 16.7. That is consistent with the 16.6 inches in his first start of 2024. Less rise on a four-seam fastball makes it easier for the batter to square up, leading to louder contact.

Gallen had a slower ramp-up period this spring due to his heavy workload from last season. Between the regular season and postseason, he started 40 games and pitched 243 2/3 innings. In his first start of the year, he had to sit for 45 minutes while the offense was busy setting franchise records for offense in a single inning. One start typically doesn't define how a pitcher's season will go, but tonight should better gauge where the right-hander is with his stuff and command.

Opposing Gallen tonight is left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr., a pitcher who has a remarkable story of perseverance. Cortes a native Cuban that moved to the United States before getting selected in the 36th round out of high school by the Yankees. He spent one year on the team before getting designated for assignment and traded to the Seattle Mariners. After one season, he became a minor league free agent and re-signed with the Yankees. The Yankees added them to their roster the next May and he has never looked back since.

Cortes fits the mold of a "crafty lefty" to a tee, attacking hitters with different pitches and arm angles. His arsenal starts with a low 90s fastball that plays above its velocity due to the amount of carry the pitch generates. He'll mix in a cutter, sweeper, and a changeup. He is exceptionally skilled at changing speeds with all of his pitches to keep hitters off balance.

Lineups

The most notable change in the lineup is the omission of outfielder Corbin Carroll. With a left-hander on the mound, the D-backs elected to rest their superstar outfielder tonight. Blaze Alexander moves up to the second spot in the order. Jorge Barrosa will make his first career start, playing center field and batting 7th. Here's what Lovullo had to say about about the 22-year-old outfielder.

"In the field, he's one of our best center fielders in the organization. You'll get a chance to watch him sprint after baseball and he's going to remind you of Alek Thomas, he gets after it. The at-bats have been very consistent throughout the course of his minor league career. Everybody thinks he's a little guy, you're going to be able to walk right through him. He's got great zone control, he can barrel up the baseball, drive the baseball gap-to-gap, hit the ball out of the ballpark as well. I don't want that to change, I don't want him to think he's got to go 5-for-4 to play tomorrow, he's just got to do what he does best."