A pitcher can throw all the bullpen side sessions he wants in spring training. It isn’t until he steps on the mound for the first time in a spring-training game that the real process begins.
In Diamondbacks camp, hard evaluations are being made every day – whether a pitcher or a position player is participating in a game or not. That being said, new manager Torey Lovullo prefaced one of his team’s first Cactus League contests by saying he isn’t against giving his athletes a mulligan or two until they hit a rhythm.
“Yeah, you’re battling a couple of things,” he said.