After scoreless outings, trio not making Lovullo's closer decision easy
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MESA, Ariz. -- One of the biggest questions in Diamondbacks camp this spring is who will be the closer come Opening Day, and the competition officially got underway Tuesday against the Cubs.
The top candidates -- lefty A.J. Puk and righties Justin Martinez and Kevin Ginkel -- all threw one scoreless inning in their Spring Training debuts in Tuesday's 4-2 loss to the Cubs at Sloan Park.
Puk and Martinez seem to be the leading candidates, but manager Torey Lovullo has also said that Ginkel is in the mix as well. And in order to get a look at each of the three against better competition, Lovullo had them pitch the second (Ginkel), third (Puk) and fourth (Martinez) frames. Usually by the later innings, especially this early in camp, most team¡¯s regulars are already out of the game.
Lovullo wanted to also get each pitcher a look at a right-handed and left-handed hitter, but that didn¡¯t work out in Puk¡¯s case and he faced three righties (two were switch-hitters).
¡°I¡¯m fine with them facing either side [hitters],¡± Lovullo said. ¡°But I just know getting different sightlines for guys is important.¡±
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Like some of the other battles in camp, this one will take a little while to sort out.
¡°I don't know where I'm gonna go with this,¡± Lovullo said. ¡°I really don't. I'm gonna have a lot of discussions.¡±
It¡¯s a balancing act for Lovullo, because these days, teams rely less on Spring Training statistics than track record. Still, the manager is going to want to see how each of them looks over the next month.
¡°I think the track record is an indication for me,¡± Lovullo said. ¡°You can be fooled by Spring Training. I know what Kevin Ginkel did in that role as a closer last year. I remember that A.J. Puk barely gave up a run from the time he got over here [at the Trade Deadline]. I know that J-Mart has got amazing stuff. I got to see all that. I want to see where it is presently, and then make some really, really tough decisions.¡±
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Ginkel was the first out of the 'pen in the second inning, and retired the side in order by striking out Pete Crow-Armstrong and Carson Kelly (both swinging), followed by a lineout to right field by Jon Berti to end the frame.
Puk followed and struck out Vidal Bruj¨¢n swinging, got Jonathan Long to ground out to third and then struck out Ian Happ swinging.
Finally, Martinez in the fourth walked the leadoff batter, Kyle Tucker, before getting Seiya Suzuki to ground into a 4-6-3 double play. After Dansby Swanson reached on a fielding error by second baseman Connor Kaiser, Martinez struck out Crow-Armstrong swinging.
In short, no one did anything to separate or eliminate themselves, and likely won¡¯t until they get more innings under their belts. It could be a tough call.
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¡°I don't want it to be easy for me,¡± Lovullo said. ¡°I don't want anybody to win anything by default. I believe in the spirit of competition. I think competition brings out the best of everybody, and I want this group to go out there and just get after it every single day. And you saw that happen today.¡±
They said it
¡°I can forgive it today, but I will not forgive it a week from now.¡± -- Lovullo on the Diamondbacks' defenders having four errors on Tuesday