Arizona Diamondbacks

Rest of the story: D-backs host Phillies (Jun 25, 2017)

Published Jun. 25, 2017 3:33 a.m. ET

PHOENIX -- Torey Lovullo is one manager who believes in giving it a rest during the season.

Or at least giving his starting pitchers and position players regular breaks during a 162-game season.

"We believe in rest," the Arizona Diamondbacks manager said.

Even with the Diamondbacks surging -- they've won 10 of 12 after beating the Phillies 9-2 on Saturday night -- Lovullo didn't hesitate to alter his starting rotation, giving right-hander Randall Delgado (1-1, 3.48 ERA) a spot start Sunday against Philadelphia so that Taijuan Walker can be bumped back to Tuesday to start against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Walker (6-3) has allowed four earned runs over 17 innings while winning each of his last three starts, through none lasted longer than six innings.

Walker dealt with blister issues earlier this season, but Lovullo said that's not a problem currently.

"(It's) to give extra rest to guys," Lovullo said. "We have to remember how important this group of five, six guys (starting pitchers) are and how important rest is to them. We're going to ask them to perform at this level all the way through the end of September and ... this will give guys that extra time."

The right-handed Delgado hasn't gone that long since starting -- he lasted five innings against the Milwaukee Brewers during an 8-6 Arizona loss on June 9 -- but this could be his final start for a while. He'll shift back to the bullpen after starting Sunday, possibly for the rest of the season.

"We wanted to take advantage of his ability to throw 75-85 pitches, so we feel like that might not last that much longer," Lovullo said. "While he still has that starter's stamina, we wanted to allow him to be inserted into the rotation. Will it happen again this year? I can't predict that.

"He's going to fall back into the bullpen and be used as a bullpen piece. If the need arises and he's still stretched out, it may happen again. Right now, the strategy is to have him start, fall back in the bullpen and then be used as a normal bullpen piece the rest of the year."

As a starter this season, Delgado is 0-1 with a 3.15 ERA, allowing 21 hits and walking four while striking out 20 in 20 innings pitched. He's opposed the Phillies nine times (three starts) and is 0-1 with a 3.29 ERA.

Delgado will oppose Phillies right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (5-5, 4.61 ERA), who is 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA in his career against Arizona. He didn't face the Diamondbacks last weekend when they swept a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies have lost four of five to Arizona this season.

Despite the Phillies' record, they've gotten a good run of effective starts, with six consecutive quality starts until rookie Ben Lively gave up five runs (four earned) in 5 1/3 innings Saturday. Rookie Mark Leiter Jr. shut out the Diamondbacks on three hits over six innings Friday in his major league starting debut, a day after Aaron Nola gave up only one run over seven innings in a 5-1 decision over the St. Louis Cardinals.

"To follow Nola's performance (like Leiter did), it's good to see those back-to-back pitching performances," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "We pitched great yesterday (Friday), tonight (Saturday) not so much."