SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Diamondbacks will roll into spring training with the following starting rotation:
Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson, Joe Saunders, Trevor Cahill, Josh Collmenter.
It comes with a caveat.
"That’s just the way it is now. We can change it later," manager Kirk Gibson said.
Saunders spent most of last season as the No. 3 starter behind Kennedy and Hudson, so it should not be considered a surprise that he at least initially is slotted ahead of newcomer Trevor Cahill, even though Collmenter was used as the No. 3 starter in the NLDS because of his success against Milwaukee in the regular season.
Gibson demands a lot of his starting pitchers in terms of helping limit the running game, and opponents were successful on 28 of 36 stolen-base attempts against Cahill last season. Varying pickoff moves and delivery times is something the D-backs work on almost every day.
"The most important thing for the new guys is to understand philosophically how we want to compete and attack games. Some people do it differently, but this is how we do it. That’s what we want him to understand," Gibson said.
Cahill, an 18-game winner in Oakland in 2010, seems "fairly comfortable already," Gibson said.
As far as potentially being the No. 4 starter, Gibson added: "People put numbers on it. The reality is, he could end up throwing against aces no matter where he is at."
SYMPATHY PAINS
Gibson knows better than most the battle Stephen Drew is fighting this spring while recovering from major ankle repair. Gibson had surgery on a hamstring tendon just below his left knee in August 1989 that limited him to half-seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1989 and 1990. He had a tendon in his left wrist surgically repaired in Detroit in June 1980, carrying a plate in his arm until November and a scar forever.
"When I had my major surgeries in my career, you feel it for years after that. It’s not going to be like it was before. It will never feel the same. You just get comfortable with it and trust that it is strong and can do the things you need to do," Gibson said.
Feeling good aftter the hamstring tendon operation "took me probably four years," Gibson added.
"I could play, but it was sore and it hurts. You get a big scar on there -- you get sore."
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