Torey Lovullo Gives Diamondbacks Closer and Health Updates

The manager also speaks about the "magic" of opening day

All around Chase Field this afternoon, players, staff, coaches, media and Diamondbacks employees were wishing each other a "Happy Opening Day". It's a magical time for fans and those who participate in the sport.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo spoke about the feeling he has on Opening Day,  "It's the same for me as it is for everybody else, a season of new hopes and dreams, everybody is 0-0 and we all have the same mindset, that we're going to go out and tell a really good story.....I say it  every year and it never gets old, Opening Day is so special for so many reasons"

Everyone has their own experiences and memories of Opening Day, but many are shared, and easy to relate to. In fact listening to the always relatable Lovullo, one couldn't help but think back to their own child hood.  "For me and my family it was the whole family when I was growing up was the little league, the entire day for opening day we all carried banners around, it meant connection, it meant love and it meant some sort of camaraderie with your teammates and probably some of your best friends when you're 10-12 years old. It doesn't change, It's still the exact same thing. We are a band of brothers."

Another perk of being the manager is getting to tell a young player he made the team. Such was the case with Blaze Alexander, who rode a hot spring to unexpectedly make the team.  The team went down to the wire, ultimately putting Emmanuel Rivera on waivers to create a spot for Alexander.   "Blaze earned this", Lovullo said.  Alexander is in the lineup at DH and batting 7th for the season opener.

Kevin Ginkel is likely to open the season getting the bulk of the save opportunities due to Paul Sewald coming down with a grade two oblique strain. Lovullo fell short of naming Ginkel the closer however. "I had a really nice conversation with Ginkel on this topic, he's going to get some early opportunities to close baseball games. But as I explained to him the save might happen in the 8th inning against the most difficult part of the lineup, and I'm going to utilize him to the best of our abilitiy to win baseball games. "

Lovullo insisted that he didn't want to name anybody the closer and if Ginkel does become the closer it "will be an evolution".  It's notable however that Lovullo did not have any similar conversations with any other reliever on the team.

Jace Peterson is going to be the primary backup option at first base should Christian Walker need a day off.  "Jace is going to get some starts over there," Lovullo said. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has started taking ground balls at first to be the third string, emergency backup at first.

Eduardo Rodriguez, who suffered a left lat strain, began a throwing program two days ago and will probably throw a bullpen within the next five days.  "He seems to be in a good spot and he's asymptomatic and feeling good". Overall, Lovullo is very encouraged. If there are no setbacks as Rodriguez progresses towards building back up, he could be back within a couple weeks.

Randal Grichuk (heel surgery) played DH yesterday, and will play tomorrow in Reno.