The Arizona Diamondbacks reliance on their former ace backfired against the Tampa Bay Rays. As Zac Gallen’s ERA climbs, Torey Lovullo’s refusal to pull his struggling starter exposes a dangerous organizational denial.
The Arizona Diamondbacks got six stellar innings out of Zac Gallen, but bringing him back in for the seventh inning proved to be his breaking point.
Gallen, 30, now has back to back losses and has taken the loss in three of his last five starts. He sits at 3-7 on the year with an ERA that continues to climb.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo knew he had a chance to pull Gallen through six in a quality start, but his post-game quote really put things into perspective.
Ultimately, this team simply is expecting too much out of Gallen. He's clearly not the pitcher he once was, and that's okay, as long as they're making the necessary adjustments, something they have failed to do here in 2026.
Gallen Cruised Through the Middle Innings
Allowing a three-spot in the bottom of the first inning is never ideal, but Gallen let a prior failed challenge haunt him in this moment.
Tampa Bay Rays superstar Junior Caminero crushed a three-run homer, one that could've been prevented with an ABS challenge. Regardless, Gallen brushed off the homer and cruised through the second through sixth innings.
Gallen opted not to use a challenge in the first inning as the Diamondbacks leave that up to the catcher's judgement. Sure, he missed on his next pitch, but in hindsight, that's a homer that will count against Gallen when it was easily avoidable.
Speaking of things that were easy to avoid, Lovullo let Gallen's hot streak get the best of him when he allowed Gallen to return to the mound in the seventh.
Gallen's final line sees him allowing five runs due to a crooked number in the seventh. Remember, Gallen hasn't gone deeper than six innings in an outing this season, so there was no real reason to test things in Tampa.
Lovullo Explains Letting Gallen Pitch the Seventh
"I had thoughts about getting him off the field with a quality start at six [innings] and three [runs] but Zac doesn't care about that,” he told MLB.com. “He's not in this game for moral victories. He wants to win baseball games, so I was going to give him a chance to win a game.
"So, I want him, I want him to understand what he did well tonight, understand what he's got to work on, and continue getting better for the four days between his next start," Vitello continued.
It's not like the Diamondbacks offense would've bailed him out anyways. Arizona finished the series opener with eight hits but only had one run to show for it, and it's even worse to know that run came in the first inning.
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