Zac Gallen to Face Rockies before Packed House at Salt River Fields

As spring training ramps up in March, so do the players, with planned increases in workload for starting pitchers and position players.

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen (23) throws against the Cleveland Guardians during a spring training game at Salt River Fields on Feb. 24, 2025. | Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Note: This article has been updated to reflect a late Diamondbacks lineup change

The Arizona Diamondbacks take on the Colorado Rockies on Saturday afternoon at Salt River Fields. Game time is 1:10 p.m. MST. The game will also be the broadcast for the first time this year by Dbacks.TV as one of the Free Games of the Day.

That's a good thing too, as it's expected to be a full house, and the game features an interesting pitching matchup, at least for the first couple of innings.

Diamondbacks Ace Zac Gallen will be making his second start of spring. Top Rockies pitching prospect Chase Dollander is on the bump for Colorado.

Gallen went one inning, throwing 15 pitches in his previous outing, and is expected to throw two innings in this game, with a likely pitch count target of roughly 30 pitches. Torey Lovullo said that his target is to get his starters up to five innings and 85 pitches by their final spring tuneup, ahead of opening day on March 27.

Beyond just pitch count, the number of "up-downs" is equally if not more important. The pitchers need to build up to being able to get back up after a 10 to 15 minute or more break and get warm again to throw another inning.

That's why sometimes in Spring you'll see a starter with a pitch count that is climbing pulled from the game mid-inning, only to be reinstated on the mound the following inning to get that up-down rep.

Lineup

Rockies at Diamondbacks updated lineup March 1 | Jack Sommers

Randal Grichuk was originally in the lineup in left-field, but the team changed the lineup about two hours before game time, inserting A.J. Vukovich in his place. No reason given as of this writing. We'll have updates from Torey Lovullo shortly.

Ketel Marte gets another day of at-bats, but from the DH spot, giving him the equivalent of half a day off his feet. The team alternating their outfield alignment, with starter Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Corbin Carroll going every other game for now. Expect to see more back to back games for starting players in the next week or so.

Garrett Hampson plays second base today. Despite being a non-roster invitee, the veteran utility man is one of the favorites to make the opening day roster due to his versatility. Those chances likely went up slightly with the recent oblique injury to Blaze Alexander.

The Rockies are taking advantage of the opportunity to face Gallen by putting in mostly a starting lineup. Often times when a team is the away side, they only have four starting players in the lineup, as that is the minimum dictated by MLB. But since the Rockies share the facility with Arizona and don't have to travel, they're able to load up with starters more readily.

Gold Glove centerfielder and emergent clubhouse leader Brenton Doyle is atop the order for the Rockies. Kris Bryant, who is hoping to have his first fully healthy season as a Rockies is in the DH spot. In three seasons with Colorado he's played in just 159 games, batting .250 with 17 homers and 60 RBI. Bryant, who is entering his age 32 season, is signed for four more years through 2028 at $27 million per year, $108 million total.

Bench Players

Expect to see at least the following players and pitchers get into the game at some point:

Trey Mancini, Cristian Pache, Alex English, Gino Groover, Kristian Robinson, and catcher Christian Cerda. On the pitching side Tommy Henry, Kyle Nelson, Scott McGough, and big Christian Montes De Oca, who is appropriately nicknamed "Oso" or bear in Spanish.