.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Paul Goldschmidt and Yasmany Tomas welcomed in the unofficial start of Cactus League play with base hits as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated Arizona State 4-0 on Tuesday at Salt River Fields.
Goldschmidt, who missed the final two months of the 2014 season with fractured left hand, singled up the middle in the first inning. Tomas, a free agent from Cuba who was the D-backs premier off-season acquisition, got his first hit as a Diamondbacks with a single to center in the fifth inning,
his second at-bat.
"Obviously everybody knows it was my first day," Tomas said through an interpreter. "I put in the work to see it happen, and it felt like it was a good day."
Tomas did not have any chances at third base.
"What are you going to do? You can't control that. There will be plenty of opportunities," he said.
The D-backs took the briefest of looks at starters A.J. Pollock, Aaron Hill and Goldschmidt, the first three in the lineup. They played the top of the first inning in the field, got an at-bat, and were replaced in the second inning. Hill reached on an infield error before Goldschmidt's single, and both were stranded when Mark Trumbo lined sharply to right field.
Right-hander Jake Barrett, ASU's closer when the D-backs selected in the third round of the 2012 draft, closed out the victory with a scoreless ninth inning.
Andrew Chafin gave up one base-runner, a single to left field by Arizona State first baseman Ryan Lillard, in two scoreless innings. He struck out three, two on off-speed pitches.
Impressions: Chafin seems a longer-shot candidate to make the rotation, but he faced only one batter over the minimum. After walking eight in 14 major league innings last year, Chafin threw strikes and was effective in the strike zone.
After being used as the DH against ASU, Jake Lamb is scheduled to play third base against Colorado on Wednesday, with Tomas in reserve. Position players are likely to alternate between playing and off days in the early part of the Cactus League schedule. "We have to make sure we can get them between 50 and 60" at-bats, depending on the guy," manager Chip Hale said. "Make sure get they are ready for the season, wherever they are starting." . . . Goldschmidt, Hill and Pollock are expected to start Wednesday. ... In a perfect world, the D-backs would have a left-handed bat -- perhaps Lamb or David Peralta, depending on what position Tomas plays -- hitting between Paul Goldschmidt and Mark Trumbo in the lineup, Hale said. "But we'll just have to see where everything falls at the end." ... To get the candidates for the starting rotation the necessary work, the D-backs have scheduled "B" games against Cincinnati and Colorado. Hale has said the team may have to start thinning the field by the second turn through the rotation. Starters also could get their work in minor league games.
Right-hander Matt Stites, who suffered shoulder soreness in pre-camp workouts, is playing catch but is not expected to throw off a mound for another week, Hale said. ... Jeremy Hellickson, pulled from a batting practice session Saturday after feeling a cramp in his rib, threw a side session Tuesday and appears fine, Hale said. His first start has not been scheduled.
Diamondbacks vs. Colorado, Salt River Fields, 1:10 pm Wednesday.
Probable pitchers: Arizona -- RHP Rubby De La Rosa, RHP Chase Anderson, RHP Aaron Blair, RHP Braden Shipley, LHP Dan Runzler. Colorado -- RHP Jordan Lyles, RHP Jon Gray, LHP Aaron Laffey, RHP Tommy Kahnle, RHP Jairo Diaz, LHP Rex Brothers.
Follow Jack Magruder on Twitter
