Arizona Diamondbacks' Josh Collmenter returns to face Milwaukee Brewers - Tucson Citizen

MILWAUKEE â€" Right-hander Josh Collmenter could feel what he was doing wrong in his delivery early in the season. He could see it, too, when he watched himself on video. But for whatever reason, he couldn’t fix it.

“It just gets frustrating because then you start trying to do more and more,” Collmenter said. “The more you try to do stuff with your mechanics or force things to happen then usually the less it happens. The same way with hitting. If you try to force a hit, you’re not going to take the same swing. It’s frustrating from that standpoint.”

During a long stint in the bullpen, Collmenter was able to rediscover his mechanics. He’ll return to the starting rotation Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Collmenter said he knew all along that he wasn’t releasing the ball the way he did in 2011, when he was a surprise contributor to a team that reached the postseason. Instead of coming directly over the top, he was being “too rotational,” he said, throwing the ball with his hand at less of a downward angle.

“I think he’s got his mechanics a little cleaner right now and he’s able to throw the ball where he wants to throw it,” manager Kirk Gibson said.

The results have followed. In his past 262/3 innings, he has a 1.35 ERA.

Sunday he’ll face a Brewers team he had success against as a starter last season. He threw 14 shutout innings against them in the regular season and beat them in the playoffs with seven innings of two-hit ball.

“I think that helps, especially getting to see them the last couple of days,” Collmenter said. “I’ve pitched against them before and I’m pretty familiar with them. I’m not going into unknown territory.”

Surgery pending

After seeking a second opinion, right-hander Daniel Hudson will have reconstructive elbow surgery, as expected.

Hudson visited with Dr. Lewis Yocum, whom Gibson intimated will be the doctor to perform the procedure.

Hudson wrote on Twitter that a date for the surgery has not yet been set but that it might happen late next week or early the following week.

Hudson will need “Tommy John” surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament. Most pitchers need 12 months to return from the surgery.

Paying dividends

In parts of seven seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, second baseman Aaron Hill had a .265 average with a .732 on-base-plus-slugging (OPS) percentage.

Entering Saturday, with 444 plate appearances since the Diamondbacks acquired him in an August trade, Hill had a .306 average and an .881 OPS.

The deal, in which the Diamondbacks sent Kelly Johnson to Toronto for Hill and infielder John McDonald, paid immediate dividends for the Diamondbacks last season. And, after the club re-signed both players in the off-season, they continue to be significant contributors this year.

“Kelly’s a good player,” Gibson said. “Sometimes it works that way. He’s done well for them, Aaron’s done well for us. … It was huge for us to have Mac come over.”

Short hop

Double-A Mobile left-hander Tyler Skaggs will replace right-hander Trevor Bauer on the U.S. roster in the All-Star Futures Game, which will take a place a week from Sunday in Kansas City, Mo. Mobile outfielder Alfredo Marte is the Diamondbacks’ other participant. He’ll play for the World team.

McDonald was scratched from Saturday’s lineup with tightness in his back.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 30th, 2012 at 9:06 pm and is filed under Arizona Republic News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.