ARLINGTON, TX — Ryan Waldschmidt hasn’t lit the world on fire at the plate, but he has taken competitive at-bats and generated some hard contact. Given the state of the Diamondbacks’ offense, that is more than can be said for some of their hitters.
As such, manager Torey Lovullo was asked prior to the Diamondbacks’ series finale against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, May 13, if he had yet given any thought to moving Waldschmidt out of the No. 9 hole in his lineup.
“Not yet,” Lovullo said. “I want to just get him grounded. I like him hitting ninth, turning it over to the boys at the top. That’s really what I want that number nine hitter to do: see pitches, drive the baseball, get on base.
“You’ve got some really good hitters sitting there at the top.”
Waldschmidt was 4 for 14 (.286) with two doubles through five games.
Over the years, Lovullo has liked to keep his young hitters at or near the bottom of the lineup as they break into the majors before eventually elevating them toward the middle or top.
“We’ll see what happens over the course of the next several at-bats and several months,” Lovullo said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Diamondbacks at Rangers, 5:05 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34
Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (1-3, 5.68) vs. Rangers RHP Kumar Rocker (1-4, 5.01).
At Globe Life Field: Nelson is coming off his best start of the season, in which he gave up just one run in 6 2/3 innings against the Mets last week at Chase Field. It was his second consecutive strong start following a 5 2/3-inning, one-run performance against the Cubs. … Nelson introduced a two-seam fastball two starts ago, a pitch he uses to get arm-side movement but not sink. According to pitch data, he has thrown it on 25 of 179 pitches (14 percent) in the past two starts. … Rocker, twice a top 10 draft pick, has yet to find his footing in the majors, posting a 5.32 ERA in 108 1/3 innings in his career. … His sinker, his primary fastball this year, has been getting hit hard (.351 average, .526 slugging) and has not induced much swing and miss (12.3 percent). … Rocker’s slider and change-up have racked up whiffs for him. … He has never faced the Diamondbacks.
Coming up
Thursday, May 14: Off.
Friday, May 15: At Colorado, 5:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (2-3, 7.62) vs. Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-4, 6.00).
Saturday, May 16: At Colorado, 12:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (4-0, 2.25) vs. Rockies RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (3-3, 4.07).
Sunday, May 17: At Colorado, 12:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Michael Soroka (5-2, 3.53) vs. Rockies RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-5, 6.55).
(This story will be updated. Check back soon.)
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks vs Rangers updates. Lovullo talks Waldschmidt