SEATTLE — Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen left his start against the Mariners on Friday night after feeling tightness in his right hamstring, but manager Torey Lovullo said he hopes Gallen won’t miss any time.
Lovullo said after the Diamondbacks’ 6-1 loss to the Mariners that Gallen felt a spasm in his hamstring and that the decision to pull him was precautionary.
“Just a right hamstring spasm, and I think we really dodged a bullet,” Lovullo said. “Credit him. It’s hard to pull back in those situations and understand what your body is feeling and call out your catcher. I think he’s hopefully going to be fine. We’re going to continue to evaluate him and no other signs of anything greater.”
Gallen walked Mariners third baseman Josh Rojas to lead off the sixth inning and then was removed by Lovullo in the middle of an at-bat against Julio Rodríguez. There was no obvious incident that caused an injury, but Gallen appeared bothered and, after discussion with an athletic trainer on the mound, left the game.
Arizona trailed 2-1 when Gallen was removed after 64 pitches, and Seattle’s lead ballooned to 6-1 after reliever Scott McGough gave up a grand slam to Mitch Haniger. Gallen was charged with three runs on three hits.
Gallen had retired seven straight batters before walking Rojas. Lovullo said there were no immediate plans for Gallen to have any scans on his hamstring.
Gallen is 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA in six starts this season. He made 34 starts and went 17-9 with a 3.47 ERA last season, finishing third in the National League Cy Young Award voting.
While it doesn’t appear to be serious, Gallen’s issue is the latest ailment for the Diamondbacks’ starting rotation. Arizona placed right-hander Merrill Kelly on the 15-day injured list earlier this week with a right shoulder strain. Right-hander Ryne Nelson was hit on the elbow by a line drive last week at San Francisco and isn’t expected back until early May. And lefty Eduardo Rodriguez suffered a left lat strain during spring training, is currently on the 60-day injured list and is not expected to return until May or June.
Lovullo said it was hard not to have thoughts of the worst-case scenario while walking out to check on Gallen.
“I can’t help myself. It’s human nature with everything we’ve been going through over the past three, four weeks, plus,” Lovullo said.
