After last night’s dramatic World Baseball Classic final, Eduardo Rodriguez will be returning to Salt River Fields in triumph, having started the game for the winners, and pitched a gem against a stacked American line-up. With all respect to the Cubs, this afternoon is going to be something of a let-down in comparison. But, cheer up! A week from tomorrow, it’ll be the end of meaningless baseball. It feels like spring training has gone by quite quickly this year. Normally, 26 games in, I’ll be thoroughly fed-up of the whole endeavor. This year, though, it hasn’t been too bad.
After Merrill Kelly, scheduled to pitch will be RHP Joe Ross, RHP Taylor Clarke, RHP Juan Morillo, RHP Paul Sewald and RHP Kade Strowd. Kelly’s first start of spring was a bit rough, allowing six hits over 1.2 innings, with no walks and one strikeout. But results there were probably less important than health, and Merrill reported coming out of it feeling fine. He is still likely to start the year on the injured list, but it hopefully will not be for long. Could even end up missing less than 15 days of the season, if the team opts to backdate his IL stint the permitted three days before Opening Day.
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Livestream today on dbacks.com, with Chris Garagiola & Cole Tucker on the call.