Notes: Riley Smith on roster; Ahmed sits

The D-backs finalized their 26-man roster hours before Opening Day with right-hander Riley Smith claiming the final spot in the bullpen.

Smith, 26, made his big league debut last year, appearing in six games and going 2-0 with a 1.47 ERA. This spring he had a 6.43 ERA in three appearances and had been optioned to Triple-A Reno.

However, with reliever Tyler Clippard starting the year on the injured list, the D-backs were able to recall Smith.

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The D-backs considered other candidates, such as right-hander J.B. Bukauskas, but Smith is stretched out as a starter, which helped his cause. Taylor Widener, who had been slated to be one of the team's long men out of the bullpen, was shifted to the rotation to take the place of the injured Zac Gallen.

With the limited number of innings thrown last year by his starting pitchers, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo wanted to make sure that he had plenty of length in his bullpen.

"This is going to give our bullpen the best chance to help us win ballgames and fight for today and fight for tomorrow," Lovullo said. "So with Taylor transitioning into the starting rotation, we wanted that length.

“Riley did a great job for us last year. He executes the game plan, and he's going to give us the ability to have that length down there in the bullpen. And, for me right now, early in the year, you can't have enough of that."

No Nick
Shortstop Nick Ahmed has battled patella tendinitis in his right knee throughout camp, and Lovullo elected to leave him out of the starting lineup Thursday. Ahmed’s status is day to day.

Ahmed and Lovullo had a long discussion Wednesday night after Ahmed took nine at-bats in a simulated game at Salt River Fields and then traveled to San Diego. Both agreed that it was better to give him an extra day or so rather than risk aggravating the injury.

"It was a very open and honest conversation, and we both felt this was the best decision moving forward," Lovullo said.

It's possible that Ahmed could be back in the lineup as soon as Friday night.

"[Friday's] our target," Lovullo said. "And we'll have the same conversation postgame and probably [Friday] morning at some point in time and figure out what the best strategy is."

Lovullo said there are no plans for Ahmed to be placed on the injured list.

Taxi squad
The D-backs’ five-man taxi squad to start the season includes three pitchers -- Matt Peacock, Joe Mantiply and Jeremy Beasley -- along with catcher Bryan Holaday and infielder/outfielder Andrew Young.