Josh

Collmenter

He struck out four and gave up a pair of home runs, though, luckily for him, they were only solo shots. Collmenter has gone through ups and downs in the second half but has ultimately held his own even after the league finally adjusted to his unorthodox delivery. He finishes the year at an even 10-10 while boasting a 3.38 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. We anticipate a sophomore slump for the right-hander next season, but there’s no doubting he had a terrific rookie year.

We had Saunders pegged as the Game 3 starter, but it’s not a big surprise they were flip-flopped given Saunders’ minor hand injury and the fact that Collmenter was fantastic against the Brewers this season, tossing 14 scoreless innings. Collmenter posted a 3.38 ERA and 1.07 WHIP over 154 1/3 innings in a surprising rookie season.

Collmenter served up home runs to Manny Ramirez and Josh Reddick in seeing his Cactus League ERA skyrocket to 14.14. It’s never wise to make too much of spring results, but allowing 11 runs in just seven innings of work can’t be good. Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson recently confirmed Collmenter will begin the year in the starting rotation, but he’ll likely be on a short leash.

Collmenter served up bombs to Albert Pujols and Howie Kendrick in watching his spring ERA soar to a likely final resting place of 11.81. Collmenter is penciled into Arizona’s season-opening rotation, but he’ll have to turn things around in a hurry to stave off youngsters Trevor Bauer and Tyler Skaggs.

The Diamondbacks will call up left-hander Patrick Corbin on Monday to take Collmenter’s spot in the rotation. The soft-tossing right-hander registered an ugly 9.82 ERA and 1.64 WHIP in four starts (18 1/3 innings).

Collmenter had to be scratched from a scheduled outing late last week because of forearm tightness. The 26-year-old right-hander has surrendered three hits and three earned runs in two innings of Cactus League play.

Collmenter has allowed 11 runs on 12 hits over seven innings (14.14 ERA) this spring, but Gibson suspects that he may have lost his fastball command while focusing on his secondary pitches. The 26-year-old right-hander was scratched from a scheduled start two weeks ago due to forearm tightness, but he hasn’t given any indication that it’s a lingering issue. The D-Backs appear willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but top prospects Trevor Bauer and Tyler Skaggs are candidates to replace him if he gets off to a slow start.

The good news is that his ERA dropped to 9.82. The Diamondbacks have Wade Miley replacing Daniel Hudson now, but they still can’t stick with Collmenter when he’s throwing like this. Demoting him to Triple-A looks like an obvious move now.

As well they should after projected fifth starter Josh Collmenter was scratched from Friday’s scheduled start against the Mariners due to minor forearm tightness. Bauer, who was selected No. 3 overall last year, started in his place and allowed two runs over three innings while striking out two and walking one. It’s likely Bauer will begin the season in the minors if Collmenter’s injury is as minor as the D-backs believe it is, but it won’t be long before he makes an impact.

Start the Trevor Bauer watch. Collmenter allowed three runs apiece in the second and third, and just wasn’t sharp after getting rocked to the tune of a 9.95 ERA in Cactus League play. He’s off-the-radar in NL-only leagues, and could soon be out of the rotation.