Diamondbacks lefty Alex Young wanted to make his scheduled relief appearance on Friday night feel as much like a start as possible, which meant finding a way to play long toss before coming into the game.

But since he was expected to enter in the fourth inning — and, therefore, couldn’t use the Chase Field outfield — Young had to get creative. As the game was in the second inning, Young was throwing in the alleyway adjacent to the railroad tracks on the south side of Chase Field.

“I talked to (pitching coach Matt) Herges about it before and said, ‘I don’t want to warm up before the game,’” Smith said. “I thought it would be better off to keep the routine the same as possible. So I was like, ‘The only place we could play is in the alleyway next to where the buses park in the parking lot.’ I got my long-toss in. It felt good.”

Young, wearing a black T-shirt and his white game pants, played catch with Ross Seaton, a former minor league pitcher who works in baseball operations as a pitching analyst, their throws sailing alongside the players’ parking lot.

It seemed to work out just fine for Young, who gave up just two runs in 5 1/3 innings in relief of Caleb Smith, who was on a limited pitch count.

“It was different,” Young said, “but once I got out on the mound it felt the same. Just going out there and competing.”

Defensive issues

Over the past two years, the Diamondbacks have rated among the best defensive teams in baseball, leading the majors in defensive runs saved in 2018 (148) and finishing second in 2019 (112).

This year, however, has been a different story: They rank 18th in the majors with a DRS of 1, meaning they are on the verge of having their defense rate as a negative.

Manager Torey Lovullo, long a stickler for good defense, called his team’s performance in the field “a point of concern.”

“I think we’re experiencing a bunch of frustration,” Lovullo said. “Frustration with certain offensive components, pitching has had its moments and the defense certainly has, as well. When I said to you several weeks ago we haven’t played our best baseball, those are the things I was focusing on. I felt like we were working well, practicing well, but we just weren’t getting the results.”

Several players have seen steep drop-offs in their defensive performance, perhaps none more surprising than shortstop Nick Ahmed, who amassed 30 and 17 runs saved the previous two years, respectively. This year, Ahmed has a DRS of 1.

“I don’t know exactly why,” Lovullo said. “I don’t want to speculate in any area about what I think could be happening. It’s just one of those things where, as a fielder, you go into maybe a little bit of rut.”

Closing time

With Archie Bradley traded and Kevin Ginkel sent down, Lovullo turned to right-hander Stefan Crichton to record the save on Friday night. Crichton retired both batters he faced to end the game and lock up a 4-3 victory. It was the first save of Crichton’s career.

Crichton, who owns a 2.91 ERA in 21 2/3 innings, has been perhaps the Diamondbacks’ most reliable reliever this season. Still, Lovullo refrained from naming him his new closer.

“It’ll probably be a matchup thing,” Lovullo said.

Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.

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