'This is the place that I grew up': Gallen savors possible last start with D-backs

PITTSBURGH -- Zac Gallen is from New Jersey. He was drafted by the Cardinals in 2016 and made his big league debut with the Marlins in '19.

But for him, Arizona was the place where his life changed, and playing for the Diamondbacks is where he’s made his mark so far in the game.

The soon-to-be 30-year-old met his fiancée after coming to Arizona. He finished third in the 2023 NL Cy Young Award race, pitched in a World Series and became an ace and Opening Day starter as a Diamondback.

“This is the place that I grew up,” Gallen said. “A place where I laid roots, a place where I met my soon-to-be wife. So, yeah, Arizona means a lot to me. They gave me a lot of runway in the last six or seven years. I kind of learned a lot about myself. The organization, the community has been great -- everything, top, bottom, just the support staff, [manager Torey Lovullo], everything.”

That’s what made Sunday a tough day for Gallen, because it very well could have been the final time he pitches wearing an Arizona uniform.

The Diamondbacks, who fell 6-0 to the Pirates, have already begun trading away some of the players on expiring contracts. Josh Naylor went to the Mariners on Thursday and Randal Grichuk to the Royals in the middle of Saturday night’s game.

Gallen, too, is a free agent at the end of the year. And while general manager Mike Hazen has continued to look for signs that the Diamondbacks could still compete for a Wild Card spot before Thursday’s Trade Deadline, losing two of three to the last-place Pirates (44-62) -- and scoring just one run over 29 innings in the series -- probably sealed the deal.

That means that Arizona’s three biggest free-agent trade chips -- Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Eugenio Suárez -- could all be dealt.

Gallen has done his best to put the speculation out of his mind, but he’s savored some little moments along the way. He took his lunch out the other day and sat in the dugout at Chase Field before Arizona left on its road trip, taking in the empty ballpark in case it was his last time there on the home side.

Sunday, he allowed four runs on five hits over six innings. It wasn’t a very good outing, nor a terrible one. Just another in a series of frustrating ones that have defined his season and left him searching for answers.

“It is what it is,” Gallen said. “I think obviously for me, I would have loved -- if today was the last one -- to have it go a little bit better, maybe get a win, but it is what it is. This year has been tough for me, frustrating.

“At the end of the day, I still came to work, still brought my lunch box and tried to turn over every stone I could to help the team win. Hopefully this isn't the last [start], hopefully I got 10-12 more, or whatever, and try to go on a run. But if it is, I did what I could.”