Kirk Gibson seemed to have no problem brushing off the last two losses to the Pirates and despite missing his biggest bats was in a good mood prior to the Arizona Diamondbacks series-opener against the Atlanta Braves.
"You have to be optimistic. You get up, get a happy hair cut, you feel good, you come to work excited to play again," Gibby said.
Justin Upton (thumb) is still considered day-to-day and will sit out this game. He, along with Chris Young, were in the batting cages taking one-armed swings to try and keep their timing and core strength.
"Between them, they each have one good arm," Gibby quipped.
Gibson said Upton has been in contact with New York Mets third baseman David Wright, who dealt with a broken pinkie finger recently and missed three games. Upton saw Wright on TV squeezing something that looked like silly putty with his hand, which he used to keep it loose.
Paul Goldschmidt is back in the lineup after sitting the last two days. Gibson insisted that Paul is still considered the everyday guy but he got an extra day off to help with his mental approach. According to his manager, Goldy was beating himself up a bit and getting too mechanical.
"Goldy, I think sometimes we get too technical and think about the wrong things."
Gibby will continue to play his bench guys and try and get days off for his position players where he can. He feels like that can prevent some injuries that happen early in the season as players adjust to the start of the marathon.
-- Facing a lefty-heavy lineup with Josh Collmenter on the mound, Gibby moved Jason Kubel back to left field and put Gerardo Parra in right where his arm can hopefully help hold runners from taking extra bases if balls are hit into the corner.
-- Ryan Roberts has been working on his throws from third base. He's had a tendency to drop his arm slot down and not get on top of the ball and as a result, his throws are bouncing in the dirt. He's been working with Matt Williams on that and his footwork. Gibby said it's not a concern but it's something that can be fixed.
D-backs lineup:
- A.J. Pollack (CF)
- Willie Bloomquist (SS)
- Jason Kubel (LF)
- Paul Goldschmidt (1B)
- Ryan Roberts (3B)
- Aaron Hill (2B)
- Gerardo Parra (RF)
- Henry Blanco (C)
- Josh Collmenter (RHP) / Wade Miley (LHP)
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