SCOTTSDALE, AZ — The Arizona Diamondbacks had a matchup with the Cincinnati Reds at Salt River Fields, and they played with a strong lineup that is as close to the regular season lineup as we have seen in Spring Training.
Eduardo Rodriguez had a very strong outing that showed the DBacks’ starting pitching is headed in the right direction to being great. E-Rod pitched a gem in 3.2 innings, did not allow a hit, and struck out six with an ERA of 0.00. If this is a sample of the Rodriguez we will see going into the start of the regular season in less than two weeks, it will be a terrific year for the 2025 DBacks.
In a defensive game, the Dbacks took an early 1-0 lead off a Katel Marte single to right field that scored Alec Thomas in the bottom of the second inning.
There was not another score until the Reds’ shortstop Sammy Stafura hit a two-out homer off DBacks reliever A.J. Puk in the top of the 6th inning and tied the game at one run apiece.
After that, good pitching kept the game tied at one, with Joe Mantiply and Justin Martinez having good outings and not giving up any runs. They combined for two innings pitched with only one hit and two strikeouts.
These pitching performances from all of the Diamondbacks are a good sign of great things to come. If you can prevent hits, you prevent runs, and when you prevent runs, that equals wins most of the time.
Seven potential starting pitchers will have to be brought down to only five to begin the season, and having seven guys to choose from is a luxury that most teams only dream of having. The truth of the matter is that Torey Lovullo only has to determine the fifth and last starter between a few guys, including two that have come off of mediocre to bad seasons, and a few others that played good enough to keep the team afloat during injuries and struggling guys.
Rodriguez’s outing today will be hard to top and hard for him to repeat, but it shows that he is more focused and looks more like the guy the team went out to get last year. Jordan Montegomery is working his way to get back to the form he was in when he was a big part of the Texas Rangers beating the Dbacks in the World Series a few years ago. He also has to try and erase the stain of last year’s lack of interest in playing for the Snakes, and his performances were horrifying to the point that the owner came out and brutally called him out. Everything pointed to him being traded in the offseason, yet he is still here. That’s not to say he will remain a Diamondback this year, but if he can play with a sense of avenging his lousy season last year, he may be helpful in the grand scheme to give this team unlimited options.
There was a another hero in today’s afternoon game, the Dbacks pitching did a good job in setting up someone to make that big hit to win the game allowing for the pitcher to finish it off in the last inning.
Pavin Smith has been a very good hitter for the Dbacks in limited work, and in a scenario with the game on the line, the question was, can he continue to rake the way he did when he was called upon last year?
In the bottom of the 8th in a 1-1 tied game, Smith came through and hit a solo homer to right center (424 ft) off Reds Relief Pitcher Yosver Zulueta, giving the Dbacks a 2-1 lead.
In the 9th inning, Torey went with two young guys, and they got the job done. Drey Jameson gave up a hit and added one strikeout, leaving only one out to finish the game. Torey turned to Bryce Jarvis to close out the close win, and the last batter for the Reds hit into a fielder’s choice to second and ended the game.
That was a good tune-up game for the starters, and the pitchers had a n outing that can bring great optimism to a Dbacks fan base that they could be headed into a good to great season.
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