PHOENIX -- Chief baseball officer Tony La Russa sat atop the third-base dugout following Sunday's game and answered questions from D-backs' season-ticket holders for almost an hour. He mentioned the offseason targets will include starting pitchers.
Hours earlier, Chase Anderson did his best to assure the D-backs he belongs in the conversation on the 2015 rotation.
Anderson struck out eight in six innings, tying a career high, as the D-backs beat Colorado 6-2 to take the weekend series at Chase Field. He gave up only one run and five hits and did not walk a batter, following up strong performances by Josh Collmenter and Vidal Nuno in the first two games of the series.
Pitching with a little more life in his arm after six days' rest, Anderson did not nibble. He challenged the Rockies' hitters with a fastball that touched 95 mph, an approach that made his plus-changeup play that much better. He had six strikeouts in the first three innings, five on third-strike fastballs.
"It started with attacking guys with the fastball," Anderson said.
Anderson threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 23 batters he faced before leaving after six innings, and reached only three three-ball counts.
His command reinforced a point La Russa made during his Q&A.
"It's not the stuff, it's location," La Russa said.
In other words, throw strikes, but make them quality strikes.
In that way, Anderson took the baton from Collmenter and Nuno:
-- Collmenter gave up one run on two hits in the D-backs' 5-2 victory over the Rockies on Friday, although he did not receive a decision after being removed with one out in the seventh inning. He retired 18 straight batters after giving up a leadoff single in the first inning. He was removed with a 1-0 lead after giving up a bunt single, and when that runner scored Collmenter was deprived of a possible victory. He struck out five and did not walk batter
-- Nuno gave up one run on two hits Saturday, absorbing a 2-0 loss when the D-backs were shut out for the 10th time this season. Nuno struck out seven, did not walk a batter, and retired 20 in a row after giving up a bases-empty home run to Matt McBride in the second inning.
All three are vying for spots in the 2015 rotation, and all three have turned heads.
The D-backs could do a lot worse from the middle of the rotation back, following a front-line newcomer via trade or free agency, holdover Wade Miley, and rehabbing Patrick Corbin, who could be back in May.
Collmenter leads the D-backs with nine victories and has a 3.94 ERA. His hatchet-taught delivery gives hitters an arm angle they very seldom. Seattle's Chris Young may be the closest, and maybe it is not surprising that both are thriving this season.
Anderson is 8-6 with a 3.75 ERA, and he has seven quality starts in his last nine appearances. He has a career-high 137-1/3 innings between Double-A Mobile and the D-backs this season, and the workload does not seem to be an issue.
Nuno has pitched the best, with the worst luck. He is winless in 10 starts since being obtained from the New York Yankees for Brandon McCarthy in early July, but his ERA here is 3.23.
All have shown the ability to keep walks down, a nod to the location La Russa and manager Kirk Gibson preach. Anderson is averaging 3.2 walks per nine innings, one missed called third strike above the league average of 2.9. Collmenter has walked 2.1 batters per nine. Nuno is at 1.8 since joining the D-backs, about a walk better than in his time with the Yankees.
"When you don't walk people, the defense plays better for you because they are on their toes," Anderson said. "You get in and out of innings. It makes the game go by faster."
Gibson removed Anderson after six innings and 86 pitches as he continues to monitor the workload of Anderson and Collmenter, in his first season back in the rotation after spending most of the last two seasons in the bullpen or as a spot starter.
"He'd done his job," Gibson said of Anderson.
"We want him to pitch through September. We think it is important. Yet we don't want him to give seven, eight nine innings. There is a limit to give him enough to stay fresh."
The D-backs will go to a six-man rotation when rosters expand -- Triple-A Reno left-hander Andrew Chafin seems the most likely addition if the Aces do not make the postseason. Anderson embraces the idea of pitching through September.
"It will be huge, because it will prove I can be healthy the whole season. I feel really strong," he said.
Cliff Pennington made another nice defensive play at his third position, third base, when he charged a ground ball that hugged the third base line by Brandon Barnes and threw a strike across his body to get Barnes at first by a step to open the seventh inning.
3 -- consecutive games in which D-backs starters did not walk a batter.
* Nolan Reimold is starting to feel like himself again, as his first career pinch-hit home run showed. He has three hits in two games since being claimed off waivers from Toronto on Thursday after missing most of the 2012 and 2013 seasons after neck surgery similar to the one that threw Peyton Manning's career into doubt. "It's been awhile since I've been able to swing, with my surgeries and stuff," Reimold said. "I feel like I've come a long way. It's important for me to finish the year strong because I've had some time off. Reimold is a candidate for spot playing time in left field against left-handed pitchers down the stretch. He has some pop. He had two double-digit homer seasons with Baltimore.
* Cody Ross will be activated from the disabled list when rosters expand on Monday, Gibson said. Ross, who has been out since July 22 with a strained left calf, will be used most as a pinch-hitter, at least early, and will continue his running program even after he returns. "We'll continue to work him hard and see if he is ready to play a game," Gibson said. "We'll get him in some games."
* Daniel Hudson also will be activated from the disabled list Monday, after making six one-inning appearances in rehab games in the rookie Arizona League and Triple-A Reno. Gibson has said he hopes to get Hudson into a game as early as Tuesday or Wednesday in San Diego, if the situation presents itself. Hudson was 16-12 in 2011 but has not pitched a major league game since June 26, 2012.
Former D-backs shortstop Andy Green was named the Southern League manager of the year for the second straight season while leading Mobile into the playoffs. The Bay Bears reached the final game of the championship series in 2013 after winning the league title in 2011-12 under manager Turner Ward, who is now the D-backs' hitting coach.
Follow Jack Magruder on Twitter
