The Trevor Bauer watch may be over.

Unless the Diamondbacks pull off a shocker, Bauer, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2011 draft, will make his major-league debut Thursday against the Atlanta Braves.

The 21-year-old Bauer was pulled from his start Sunday at Triple-A Reno after 50 pitches and 22/3 innings, leading to speculation he'll get the start Thursday in Atlanta place of the injured Joe Saunders.

Manager Kirk Gibson wouldn't commit to Bauer after Sunday's 5-1 win over the Chicago Cubs. He said the club had to pull him "to keep him under consideration. We'll make that decision, but we don't have to do it until Thursday."

Bauer is 11-1 with a 2.23 ERA in 16 starts this season and leads all minor-league pitchers with 116 strikeouts. He began the year at Double-A Mobile and was promoted to Reno, where he's 4-0 with a 2.82 ERA.

Kennedy's struggles

No National League pitcher has allowed more hits this season than Ian Kennedy, who was pulled from Saturday's game against Chicago after allowing 10 hits in 41/3 innings.

Kennedy has given up 105 hits in 93 2/3 innings. By comparison, he allowed 186 hits in 222 innings last season.

Gibson traced Kennedy's woes to three factors: An inability to get his fastball down in the zone, his change-up not having enough depth, and not throwing the curveball as much as he did last year.

"When he's right, Ian can throw all his pitches where he wants to throw them," Gibson said. "He hasn't thrown the ball consistently like he did last year. But he's highly dedicated and he'll figure it out."

Because the Diamondbacks have an off day today, Kennedy could be pushed up and pitch Thursday against Milwaukee. But Gibson said he'll give Kennedy an extra day's rest, in part because he threw 108 pitches against Chicago, and the team has 13 consecutive games before the All-Star break and 20 in a row after it.

Short hops

Reno second baseman Jake Elmore extended his hitting streak to 31 games with a first-inning hit Sunday.

Jason Kubel's seventh-inning homer was the 43rd to land in the pool beyond right-center field.

The Diamondbacks swept the Cubs for the first time since Aug. 17-19 2001.