'A surreal moment': Burnes set to start D-backs' spring opener

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Diamondbacks open their Cactus League schedule Friday with a game against the Rockies at Salt River Fields beginning at 1:05 p.m. MST, and we¡¯ve got you covered for what you need to know for the spring and also what to watch for when games get underway.

Corbin gets the start
Corbin Burnes, who signed a six-year $210 million free-agent deal during the offseason, will get the start for the Diamondbacks on Friday.

No, don¡¯t read into this that he will also start the regular-season opener -- manager Torey Lovullo has a tough choice to make there between Burnes and Zac Gallen, and he¡¯s going to take his time before announcing anything.

And while the game doesn¡¯t count, it will be the first game action for Burnes wearing Sedona Red.

¡°He looks good in a D-backs uniform, right?¡± Lovullo said. ¡°It looks fantastic. It¡¯ll be probably a little bit of a surreal moment watching that happen. I¡¯ve been a big fan of his and admirer of his for a lot of reasons. The ability to compete and execute and win baseball games is all I knew of him before, but now I¡¯m getting a chance to unwrap him a little bit further and he¡¯s just a good teammate and human being and just wants to win baseball games.¡±

Burnes requested to start the Cactus League opener and he is scheduled to throw just one inning.

¡°He said he usually throws the first inning of the first game of Spring Training, and that's what he wants to do,¡± Lovullo said. ¡°And when you hear that, it's like, ¡®All right, get out of the way, let's roll it.'¡±

Young pitchers early
Outside of Burnes, look for a number of Minor Leaguers to log innings in the first few games, with non-roster invite Jos¨¦ Castillo getting the start Saturday against the Rockies.

It's going to take time to sort things out
No one is going to earn or lose a job in the first week of the spring as Lovullo and his staff allow the players to get their feet underneath them.

Center field battle
Both Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy are expected to make the team, but who looks better during the spring could determine who gets more at-bats early in the regular season.

• D-backs announce spring broadcast slate

Blazing around
An outstanding spring prompted the Diamondbacks to keep Blaze Alexander on the Opening Day roster and he got a lot of time at short when Geraldo Perdomo went down with an injury.

Defense was a struggle at times for Alexander, and with Perdomo locked in to a recent contract extension, look for the Diamondbacks to move Alexander around this spring. He could see time at third, short and second as well as the outfield.

If he looks good at those other positions, it could help his chances of being in the big leagues again this year.

What Lovullo looks for
When you hear people say that ¡°results don¡¯t matter¡± in Spring Training, it begs the question of what exactly does matter. Lovullo shared some insight as to what he¡¯s looking for when making decisions on pitchers.

¡°The shape of pitches,¡± Lovullo said. ¡°Mound presence and the ability to step back and execute after a crisis situation.¡±

And for hitters?

¡°What do you look like after you make an error or have a bad at-bat,¡± Lovullo said. ¡°What's your body language like? Those are the things that I'm really honing in on. And then specifically the breaks and movements of players [defensively]. You just find out where these guys are with their confidence level when they're on defense, and then their ability to not miss pitches offensively.¡±

It gets pretty detailed
Fans might watch an infielder making a diving stop on a ball and think it was a good play, but Lovullo is a former infielder who has studied the game for years and can judge whether the player was late on a break for the ball and that¡¯s why he had to dive.

Likewise if a ball scoots just out of reach of an infielder, Lovullo might consider it a good play because he noticed the way the player broke on the ball.

¡°It¡¯s not the result that I¡¯m watching,¡± Lovullo said. ¡°I'm watching things from the ground up and from the smallest detail forward.¡±