‘Looking to add’ at deadline, Diamondbacks keep rolling with win over Cubs

CHICAGO — Sitting in the visitors’ dugout at Wrigley Field on Friday morning, Diamondbacks General Manager Mike Hazen described the recent trade market as relatively uneventful, a place where discussions are focused mostly on potential availability rather than actual deal-making.

Nevertheless, conversations have been taking place, and Hazen has been making clear where he expects to be standing come the July 30 trade deadline.

“As of now,” he said, “the calls we’re making, we’re looking to add talent to the team.”

Hazen included the caveat because there is enough time for things to change, but if his club continues to play like it did on Friday afternoon in a 5-2 win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, there won’t be any confusion: The Diamondbacks will be buying.

After winning 10 of 15 games before the break, the Diamondbacks opened the proverbial second half with a convincing and relatively complete victory. Right-hander Ryne Nelson turned in another strong performance, setting a career high with nine strikeouts. The Diamondbacks offense beat a good pitcher in Justin Steele in a sort of death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts attack. Gabriel Moreno reached base three times and was in the middle of both Diamondbacks’ rallies.

The bullpen was on the verge of faltering late in the game — the Cubs had the tying run at the plate in each of the final two innings — but relievers Ryan Thompson and Paul Sewald got the job done, ensuring the Diamondbacks maintain momentum they had going for at least another day.

When the month began, the Diamondbacks’ direction was uncertain. They were languishing below .500. They had a tough stretch of schedule ahead of them. There was a chance they could find themselves buried amidst a slew of contenders in the National League wild-card race.

But Hazen seems to have some confidence about the way things are trending.

“We’ve definitely moved in the right direction, played great baseball over the past two weeks, and hopefully we can continue to do that,” he said. “Certainly right in the thick of it, right where we wanted to put ourselves as of two weeks ago. I really commend the players. That was a tough schedule we ran through; it’s going to continue to get tougher.”

Assuming nothing changes on that front, Hazen’s only question is one of focus. Does he add another starting pitcher knowing that he has a trio of injured pitchers — Jordan Montgomery, Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez — working their way back from injury? Does he try to upgrade on the position-player side? Or does he go with the sort of tried-and-true deadline approach and simply focus on the bullpen?

With the same caveat as before — for now — it sounds like Hazen is leaning toward the latter.

“I know I want to add,” Hazen said, “but I don’t know that there’s a ton of clear — unless the starting pitching doesn’t come back — not a ton of clear ways that I feel like it’s dire that we add. I think our team, the team that we feel like could run into the playoffs, is this team.”

Hazen said he would like to keep his ears open to the possibility of adding a controllable starting pitcher, but he did not seem to consider such an outcome likely given the cost.

Besides, it is an area that is starting to feel like less of a concern with every passing start from Nelson. On Friday, he went 5 2/3 innings, turning in his sixth strong performance in his past seven outings, a stretch in which he has a 3.29 ERA.

Nelson again was heavily reliant on his mid-90s fastball — which he threw on 65 of his 96 pitches — and for good reason seeing as how he generated 11 swinging strikes with it.

“It has a lot to do with just being ahead,” Nelson said. “When I’m behind and throwing a bunch of fastballs, that’s when I run into trouble. The quality of the offspeed is not quite as (good as the fastball), but the quality has been better, and I think that’s keeping them honest, almost. And, obviously, I like to throw my fastball. If I can find ways to use it and it’s beneficial, that’s what I want to do.”

Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks had little trouble against Steele. After threatening in the first, they broke through in the third, collecting five singles to score three runs.

The Diamondbacks added two more runs off Steele in the fifth, again doing so without a big blow but rather by bunching up three hits and a walk along with a sacrifice fly.

The Diamondbacks’ bullpen had a bend-but-don’t-break day. Justin Martinez did not retire any of the three batters he faced in the eighth before giving way to Thompson, who worked out of a bases-loaded jam while allowing just one run to score. Sewald allowed consecutive singles with one-out in the ninth but retired the final two batters to pick his 14th save, his third in as many chances since he blew three straight earlier in the month.

Slade Cecconi to shift into bullpen role

CHICAGO — The Diamondbacks are shifting right-hander Slade Cecconi into a bullpen role for the remainder of the season, General Manager Mike Hazen said Friday.

Cecconi, who was optioned to Triple-A Reno last weekend, has logged 66 innings with a 6.14 ERA in 14 games (13 starts) in the majors this season. He has struggled at times to maintain the quality of his stuff deep into games. He also has been hit hard by opposing teams when facing a lineup for the second and third time.

Hazen said he expects the organization will keep Cecconi somewhat stretched out, hoping that if and when he returns to the majors he could occupy a role similar to the one right-hander Drey Jameson had in the early part of last season.

“Every fourth day he (Jameson) was coming out and throwing three innings and we were winning games because of that,” Hazen said. “He comes out, throws three innings, saves the rest of the bullpen. Torey isn’t afraid to leave him out there when we’re up. He doesn’t run (Ryan) Thompson or (Kevin) Ginkel or that group into the ground; he can give them a day off.”

Hazen stopped short of saying the move was a permanent one for Cecconi, leaving open the possibility of him returning to a starting role next season.

Jordan Montgomery nearing return; Kelly, Rodriguez progressing

CHICAGO — Diamondbacks left-hander Jordan Montgomery is trending toward a return next week while fellow starters Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez continue to inch forward in their throwing programs.

Manager Torey Lovullo said Montgomery threw three innings and 56 pitches in a simulated game on Thursday. While Lovullo acknowledged the possibility of Montgomery returning at some point during next week’s series in Kansas City, he stopped short of saying it was official.

“We just have to make sure he’s healthy and ready for it,” Lovullo said.

Montgomery has been on the injured list since July 2 with right knee inflammation.

Meanwhile, Kelly and Rodriguez will throw their next bullpen sessions on Saturday, Lovullo said and likely will throw another one after that before they move on to face hitters.

“We’re not quite there yet (facing hitters), but they’re both feeling really, really good,” Lovullo said.

Saturday’s Diamondbacks-Cubs pitching matchup

Diamondbacks at Cubs, 4:15 p.m., Fox, Ch. 10

Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (6-4, 3.06) vs. Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (2-7, 6.78).

At Wrigley Field: Gallen has made four starts since returning from the injured list due to a hamstring issue; one has been very good, one so-so, the other two not so good. Most recently, he gave up seven runs (six earned) in 3⅔ innings against the Blue Jays on Sunday in the final day of the first half. … Gallen’s velocity has been up significantly since his return. His fastball is averaging 94.9 mph in those four starts, up from the 92.9 mph average in 11 starts prior to the IL stint. … Hendricks, 34, is having a miserable season, having logged only two quality starts out of 12. That said, he is coming off his best outing of the year, a game in which he fired seven scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals. … He has a 4.54 ERA in 12 career starts against the Diamondbacks. He gave up seven runs in 4⅓ innings in a start against them at Chase Field in April. … DH Joc Pederson is 4 for 16 with two homers off Hendricks in his career.

Coming up

Sunday: At Chicago, 11:20 a.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (2-6, 6.10) vs. Cubs LHP Shota Imanaga (8-2, 2.97).

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ‘Looking to add’ at deadline, Diamondbacks keep rolling with win over Cubs