Young and Merrill Kelly are expected to be the leading candidates to replace Mike Leake as the fifth starter, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.
Kelly, who led the Diamondbacks with 32 starts in 2019, may be the frontrunner, but Young is in the mix. He made 17 appearances and 15 starts in 2019. If Young enters the season as a sixth/spot starter, he still might get use as the five-member rotation will not be stretched out initially. The left-hander compiled a 3.56 ERA and 1.19 WHIP over 83.1 innings, which looks fine and warrants consideration for the rotation, but there were underlying peripherals (1.5 HR/9, 4.80 FIP, 20.3 K%) that paint a less sanguine picture. Jon Duplantier and Taylor Clarke are also around for starting depth.