RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesManager Torey Lovullo assured reporters that all is good with Ketel Marte despite his star second baseman scrubbing one of his social media accounts of all things Diamondbacks .
“First, I don’t even know what scrubbing is, to be honest with you,” Lovullo said. “I’m a baseball manager. That’s all I care about.
“But, yeah, I have gotten word that something happened with his Instagram account, and I’ve connected with Ketel just to find out how he’s doing. Everything is in a good spot. He’s playing today. I know everybody wants to make some drama that’s taking place here — it’s nothing like it seems.”
Marte was in the lineup batting cleanup. This is the third consecutive day he has batted fourth.
Absent from the lineup was third baseman Nolan Arenado, whom Lovullo said he has to be careful with given his age (35) and the number of games he has played (100) this season.
“He was supposed to get that day off in St. Louis, but we needed him as a defensive replacement and that turned out to be two at-bats,” Lovullo said. “So was that technically a day off? No. I need to do a better job of getting him off his feet, which I will do.”
Injury updates on Michael Soroka, Tommy Troy
Right-hander Michael Soroka, who threw two innings and 35 pitches in a live batting practice session over the weekend, will throw three or four innings and up to 50 pitches in a bridge league game on Thursday, Lovullo said.
Outfielder Jordan Lawlar will also play in a bridge league game. However, Lovullo said Lawlar will probably only run at about 50% as he continues to work his way back cautiously from a hamstring strain.
Meanwhile, outfielder Tommy Troy is not yet asymptomatic from the shoulder injury he suffered before the All-Star break.
Brandon Pfaadt not concerned about low strikeout rate
Right-hander Brandon Pfaadt had been very good since coming back from the minor leagues, doing so despite striking out a little more than one batter every other inning.
“I think just getting more outs is the main goal,” Pfaadt said. “I could care less about strikeouts. It’s not necessarily shying away from them or trying to go for them — just about getting a team win and getting as many outs as I can is the main goal.”
Pfaadt has elicited healthy whiff rates on both his breaking balls — 33.3% on his curveball, 30.2% on his slider — but that hasn’t translated to punchouts. He has only 14 strikeouts in 27 innings since June 30.
He believes his array of fastballs — four-seam, two-seam and cutter — has allowed him to get early-count outs.
“I think that’s the game plan,” he said. “That’s why we’ve been able to go deeper into games with more consistent results. Not necessarily get in trouble when you’re chasing strikeouts.”
Diamondbacks at Pirates, 3:40 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34
Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (8-8, 5.12) vs. Pirates RHP Mitch Keller (6-7, 4.90).
At PNC Park : Kelly gave up two runs in five innings against the Athletics in his most recent start. He was pitching despite feeling under the weather, which was part of the reason he exited after throwing 87 pitches. … Kelly has had a solid July, logging a 2.45 ERA in four starts with eight walks and 18 strikeouts across 22 innings. … Keller was effective in his most recent start, giving up just three hits and walking two in five scoreless innings against the Yankees. … He had been in a rough patch before that, posting a 7.62 ERA over his previous eight starts. … He has good career numbers against the Diamondbacks, holding them to a 2.29 ERA in six starts. He faced them once last season, giving up two runs in six innings.
Coming up
Tuesday, July 28: At Pittsburgh, 3:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (5-1, 4.43) vs. Pirates RHP Bubba Chandler (3-8, 4.47).
Wednesday, July 29: At Pittsburgh, 9:35 a.m., Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (9-3, 2.64) vs. Pirates RHP Jared Jones (2-1, 3.72).
Thursday, July 30: Off.
Friday, July 31: At Cleveland, 4:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Mitch Bratt (0-1, 6.32) vs. Guardians RHP Tanner Bibee (4-10, 3.89).
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks at Pirates updates. Lovullo addresses Marte 'drama'
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