David Hernandez – Photography: Jordan Megehardt

By Greg Salvatore

Ian Kennedy is making his second start of the Spring today against the San Diego Padres (this is the last time the D-backs will see their San Diego rivals until the regular season).

We haven’t given you a pitching update in a few days, so here’s a look at the pitchers who will be toeing the rubber over the next four days.

Ian Kennedy

Mike Hampton

Juan Gutierrez

Daniel Stange

Joe Paterson 

Leyson Septimo

Yonata Ortega

Jordan Norberto

Josh Collmenter

Barry Enright

Armando Galarraga

Micah Owings

Rafael Rodriguez

Jordan Norberto

Sam Demel

Kevin Mulvey

Joe Saunders

Wade Miley

Brian Sweeney

David Hernandez

Kam Mickolio

Esmerling Vasquez

Aaron Heilman

J.J. Putz

Josh Collmenter

Zach Kroenke

Zach Duke

Kevin Mulvey

Carlos Rosa

Jarrod Parker

The highlight of this list, to me, appears to be J.J. Putz’s inning against the Royals on Monday. Putz has been throwing plenty of side sessions in Spring Training so far, but this will be his first game inning.  

David Hernandez has looked excellent, throwing three scoreless innings in his first three outings, with two strikeouts. He’s one of the best options for the eighth inning this year, a guy who can throw strikes, miss bats and performed at a high level in the AL East, the most vicious division in the league. 

Aaron Heilman has looked fantastic in both of his starts, giving up only one hit and no runs in five innings. When he signed as a free agent, he wanted an opportunity to start. He has taken that opportunity and run with it. While he has proven he’s a reliable bullpen arm in the past, any default thought that he’d go to the bullpen because of the starting depth on this team has now flown out the window. So far, he looks like he’s going to force the front office to make some tough decisions on the roster, which is exactly the kind of competition Kirk Gibson has been promoting this year.