The Diamondbacks are giving Corbin Carroll a night off from the starting lineup, but he still might be available if the game turns late.
Carroll said, “If there’s a situation late in the game, I’m sure I’ll be in there, but if that situation doesn’t arise, then yeah, just give it a day.”
That comes after a brutal July stretch for Carroll, who is hitting just .118 (6-for-51) this month despite making the All-Star Game. If you fold in the end of June, he’s under .100 over his last 17 games. Even so, he has continued to draw walks, with 12 in that span.
Arizona’s pitching situation is also tight after the bullpen was asked to cover 7.1 innings yesterday. Drey Jameson, working in the long-relief role, couldn’t get through more than two innings and threw nearly as many balls as strikes, 20 to 22. Abner was also inefficient, needing 46 pitches for two innings, though his ball-strike count was better at 16 to 30.
That leaves Torey Lovullo with several arms he’ll want to avoid over the next couple of days. It also means Mitch Bratt may not be asked for much length tonight; he hasn’t reached 70 pitches in a game since May, so four innings would be a reasonable expectation.
There’s another roster move coming tomorrow, when one of the current nine relievers will be sent down to clear room for a starter. Burgos looks like a likely candidate, or it could be whichever minor bullpen arm gets used heavily tonight.
Kohl Drake is also around the Chase Field clubhouse and appears to be the most likely call-up, which would make for his major league debut. He has been stretched out in Reno, but even then, the expectation is that Arizona won’t get a ton of innings from him.
It all sets up a tricky couple of games for Lovullo as he tries to navigate a thin pitching staff.
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