April 1, 2013
The Diamondbacks finalized their pitching plans the first time through the rotation, with Wade Miley scheduled to pitch in Milwaukee on Friday and Patrick Corbin to follow on Saturday.
That was the expected order, but manager Kirk Gibson said he wanted to make sure Miley recovered well from a 95-pitch outing Saturday before making it official. Miley missed an early spring start because of arm fatigue.
“It kind of sucked," Miley said. "I didn’t plan on missing a start at all. I don’t know if it was from throwing as many innings as I did last year. There really was never any pain, it just wasn’t right. I feel fine now.
“Moving forward. A lot of confidence.”
Miley was 16-11 with a 3.33 ERA in 194 2/3 innings last year and finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting to Bryce Harper.
The D-backs do not necessarily want their two left-handers to pitch on successive days this season, but they may keep it this way, at least through the third week of the season, when they have a three-game series against the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium on April 16-18.
Brandon McCarthy, Miley and Corbin would pitch those games if the D-backs stay in rotation, and Yankee Stadium is much more forgiving to left-handers because of its short porch in right field and deep power alley in left-center.
-- Jack Magruder
