Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Tommy Henry is still on the outside looking in for a rotation spot, but he is looking to leave an impression on the coaching staff. He's had two appearances, one bad and one excellent one, and is competing for a spot on the rotation depth chart.
"It's been good, it's been really good," said Henry on his appearance on Bickley & Marotta on Monday. "I always enjoy getting back into game action. The offseason's great, you get to spend time away from the game and then you get in a lab and work on things you need to improve on. Once you hop back in these games it feels like you have to knock the rust off a little bit, get back into a competitive mode, get some outs instead of trying to execute or get better at stuff. I always enjoy going back to the basics of why we play the game and getting used to that again."
Speaking of the rotation, establishing depth is important to get through a season. While Arizona has seven guys competing for five spots, there is always a need for at least 8-9 starters to get through a 162-game season. Last season they went through 11 different starting pitchers, as the rotation suffered from injuries for the first four months. A guy like Henry, who can bridge together possibly 5-6 solid starts in a season could be the difference between making and not making the postseason.
The good news for the Diamondbacks is Henry is coming off a strong season with Triple-A Reno. In 20 starts with the Aces he went 10-1 with a 4.25 ERA in 108 innings. While things haven't come completely together for the 27-year-old lefty, he's solid performances in Triple-A still have him on the organization's depth chart. This spring, he's competing with Blake Walston for the No. 8 spot on the rotation depth chart.
"I think the best way it works is to continue to rack up success, wherever it is. Let that be your guiding factor. Your motivation is to just go out there on the field and have success. Once you get into the habit of that, get used to that, and get your mindset in the way into everytime I step on the field I can dominate no matter where I'm at. They're not going to pull you up on the big league squad if they don't believe you can do that. There's no reason to doubt it yourself. Success anywhere, I'll take it and stack it, and I'll prepare to do that at any level."
Henry's mindset pitching in Reno is to beat the other starter, regardless of score. In the Pacific Coast League, a very extreme hitter-friendly league, pitchers are going to have ugly stats. By embracing his competitiveness, which he says is a strength of his, he's had that type of success at that level and is looking for it to translate to the major leagues.
His last spring outing is an example of what he's capable of. He was dominating the Rockies with a fastball that averaged less than 90 MPH, striking out four in three scoreless innings including three straight in the fourth inning. Henry credits being able to stay ahead in counts for putting him in position to strike out those batters.
While Henry is likely to begin the season with Reno, it only takes a couple of injuries before he'll be pressed into duty. How ready he'll be for that will determine the success of the Diamondbacks' 2025 season.