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Medford's Shipley to make season debut with D’backs Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Braden Shipley (35) in the first inning during a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Friday, Sept. 30, 2016, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Wednesday May 3, 2017 at 11:13 AM May 3, 2017 at 7:08 PM Tim Trower Mail Tribune @MTsports Braden Shipley will make his 2017 debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks Thursday when the right-hander takes the mound for a spot start against the Washington Nationals. The game is the series finale between the two and starts at 10:05 a.m. PDT. Shipley, a 25-year-old who starred at North Medford High, faces a tough customer in the Nationals’ Max Scherzer, a two-time Cy Young Award winner. Shipley made his major-league debut last July and pitched the second half of the season for the Diamondbacks. This year, he began the season at Class Triple-A with the Reno, Nevada, Aces of the Pacific Coast League, going 3-1 with a 4.18 ERA over 28 innings. In his last outing on Friday, an 8-7 win over Fresno, California, Shipley hurled six scoreless innings, scattering seven hits. The opportunity to return to the big leagues surfaced when Arizona starter Shelby Miller suffered a season-ending right elbow injury April 23. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo picked Shipley to fill the void in part to keep the bullpen intact. One of the skipper’s options was reliever Archie Bradley. Much discussion went into the decision to elevate Shipley, said Lovullo, who told mlb.com, “It just seemed like it was the right guy in the right situation on that day and start." How long Shipley stays in the rotation will be determined later. "We're gonna just let him start and see where it takes us," Lovullo. "As with anything in this game, performance is very, very valuable. "We want him to perform, we're gonna give him a good chance to go out there and perform. If he does his job, we'll see where that takes us." Last season for Arizona, Shipley went 4-5 with a 5.27 ERA in 70 innings pitched. Scherzer is 3-2 with a 2.94 ERA. He is the reigning National League Cy Young winner and also earned the American League award in 2013 while with Detroit. Washington (18-9) edged Arizona (17-12), 2-1, on Wednesday.   Shipley was a 2010 graduate of North Medford who went on to pitch at the University of Nevada. He was selected with the 15th overall pick in the 2013 major league draft. — Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 541-776-4479 or email [email protected].