Lovullo: Greinke's status for Opening Day uncertain

When the Arizona Diamondbacks kick off their regular season Mar. 29 against the Colorado Rockies, Zack Greinke may not be on the hill to deliver the game's first pitch.

The 34-year-old was scheduled to throw five innings on Wednesday but had his start cut short by groin tightness. While the injury appears to be minimal, it may take the veteran out of the running to make the first start of his team's season, according to manager Torey Lovullo.

"Zack went through a throwing program today, and he actually said he felt good, but we're going to continue to be cautious through this whole process," Lovullo said of his ace, according to MLB.com's Owen Perkins. "We're going to push back his bullpen and just continue to walk through it with his feedback and see what the next step in the process is."

Lovullo didn't outright say that Greinke wouldn't be ready to make the Opening Day start, but he's also not ready to rush the right-hander, whose had some issues with his velocity throughout spring training thus far.

"If we push back the bullpen, it's going to push back the start, which obviously at that point could change his status for Opening Day," Lovullo explained. "If it's a slim catch-up type of situation, I don't think we'd allow it to happen. My mindset is to not have him play catch-up one day during the season. I want to make sure that he's strong from Day 1 to the end of the season."

Greinke, the 2009 AL Cy Young winner, has made the last two Opening Day starts for the Diamondbacks.