Andrew Vailliencourt

The Republic | azcentral.com

Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray is progressing in his recovery after sustaining a concussion against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 28.

He threw 33 pitches in a bullpen on Wednesday at Chase Field and said that he feels good.

Both Ray and manager Torey Lovullo said they are taking it one day at a time due to the delicate nature of the injury. Ray said it's just as much mental as it is physical and will be important in coming back.

"Just realizing that guys don't get hit in the head every day," Ray said. "It's kind of a freak accident, there's not very many cases of guys getting hit in the head. So just understanding that, that it's not something that (happens twice), knock on wood, it's like lightning hardly ever strikes twice in the same place."

Ray said he wants to be 100 percent before he returns, and that he has been cleared by doctors to resume baseball activity.

"(The bullpen) was fantastic," Lovullo said. "He is giving us open and honest dialogue and being as transparent as possible which I think is extremely important through this process, it's a very delicate process."

Lovullo said he strongly feels like Ray should take a rehab start in the minor leagues, but that decision will be made by the front office.

"We don't quite have a road map because things change day-to-day, but for right now all I know is that he threw a great bullpen, he feels great and we'll see how he is tomorrow," Lovullo said. "We're discussing (a rehab start) right now, we've discussed a lot of different scenarios. With that honest feedback, we're not going to put him in a situation that he's not prepared or ready for."

D-Backs expecting big weekend crowds

Despite having the third-best record in the National League, the Diamondbacks sit 21st in the majors in attendance. Arizona averages 25,638 fans per game, lower than every other current playoff team except Cleveland, which is 25th.

Chase Field had 24,810 people at Tuesday's game against the Dodgers and 22,670 in attendance on Wednesday.

There was a particularly large contingent of Los Angeles fans at both games, something that the team can't do much about. Phoenix is a city full of transplants, and the Dodgers happen to travel better than most teams in the country. They also have the league's highest attendance.

The Diamondbacks expect the weekend series against the Cubs to be well-attended, as most weekend series have been this season.

"Our attendance is tracking above projections and ahead of last season with the way we are playing," Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall said. "This series seems lighter because of most schools going back into session this week. Our last four weekend series have been tremendous and expect very large crowds again this upcoming weekend. The momentum of the season has definitely brought an increase to our turnstiles overall and an energy in the ballpark."

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Thursday’s game

Dodgers at Diamondbacks

When: 6:40 p.m.

Where: Chase Field (Roof hotline: 602-462-6262).

Pitchers: Diamondbacks LHP Anthony Banda (1-1, 3.86) vs. Dodgers RHP Yu Darvish (7-9, 3.81).

TV/Radio: FSAZ/KMVP-FM (98.7), KHOV-FM (105.1).

Rookie Anthony Banda will make his third career start for the Diamondbacks on Thursday. ... Banda is coming off his first major-league win, which he picked up after the Diamondbacks topped the Giants last week. ... Banda pitched six innings, allowing just one run. ... He’ll face the newest member of the division-leading Dodgers in Darvish, who will be making his second start with his new team after being traded at the deadline by the Texas Rangers. ... Darvish threw seven scoreless innings while striking out 10 against the Mets last week in his first appearance.

Coming up

Friday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Taijuan Walker (6-5, 3.60) vs. Cubs RHP John Lackey (9-9, 4.81).

Saturday: At Chase Field, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Patrick Corbin (8-11, 4.76) vs. Cubs LHP Jon Lester (8-6, 3.97).

Sunday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zack Godley (5-4, 2.94) vs. Cubs TBD.