Welcome to the D-backs Beat Newsletter! I’m Steve Gilbert, and I’ve been writing about the D-backs since 1998. Let’s get right to it … |
DENVER -- It seems like it’s almost a daily occurrence for Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo to begin his pregame media session by announcing that another one of his players has either gone on the injured list or is having Tommy John surgery.
Friday afternoon, before the Diamondbacks opened a three-game series with the Rockies at Coors Field, Lovullo revealed that left-hander A.J. Puk, expected to share closing duties this year with right-hander Justin Martinez, is undergoing surgery to repair his UCL. |
Whether it will be the brace surgery or full-on Tommy John surgery will be determined once Dr. Neil ElAttrache gets a closer look at the elbow.
Puk has been out since April 18, and at the time, it was thought that he could get better with rest and rehab. However, as his throwing program progressed, he began to once again experience discomfort and went to see Dr. ElAttrache.
The Diamondbacks have one more year of club control of Puk following this season, so he could see limited action for them at some point late next season.
That’s a similar timeline to the one Martinez will be looking at once he has Tommy John surgery, which has yet to be scheduled.
Those are two big blows for a bullpen that has struggled since the two have been down with elbow issues. |
Martinez and Puk aren’t the only two Arizona pitchers this year who have needed to surgically repair their elbows. Both ace Corbin Burnes and left-handed starter Jordan Montgomery have undergone the procedure. And in another bit of bad news Friday, Lovullo said that lefty Tommy Henry, part of the Diamondbacks' starting-pitching depth at Triple-A Reno, will also need elbow surgery.
The injuries to the starters have reduced the Diamondbacks from having too many starters during Spring Training to suddenly being pretty thin beyond Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt and Ryne Nelson.
Nelson gave the team a scare Thursday in Toronto when he was struck on the left leg by a comebacker, but he was able to stay in the game, and it doesn’t appear that he will have any lingering effects going forward. |
Arizona has had its share of injuries on the position player side of things as well, and the biggest came Friday when Lovullo announced that catcher Gabriel Moreno has a hairline fracture in his right hand.
Moreno was hit in the hand by a foul tip on June 6, and the team did both X-rays and an MRI, neither of which showed any fractures. Moreno got into some games after the injury, and it appeared to be getting better.
Friday in Toronto, Moreno was a late scratch from the lineup and the hope was he would be able to be back in there Saturday, but when he again couldn’t go, the team placed him on the IL and another MRI showed the hairline fracture.
Moreno is expected to be out until the All-Star break. One of the people the Diamondbacks might have turned to as a replacement, Reno catcher Adrian Del Castillo, was recently diagnosed with a lower back issue that will keep him on the shelf for a week or two. |
Outfielder Corbin Carroll was hit on the left hand with a pitch Saturday night and was forced to leave that game. X-rays that night were negative, and he was out of the starting lineup on Thursday and Friday, though Lovullo said Carroll was making progress.
“Corb is better, much better, trending in a very positive direction,” Lovullo said. “Just want to give him a work day, just try and get out see how he feels. The last thing you want to do is put a bat in your hand and have something sting. So he's going to do all that he can. As of right now, he'll be available [off the bench] and then we'll hopefully trend upward from there.” |
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With a pair of homers in Friday night's 14-8 win against the Rockies, third baseman Eugenio Suárez now has 300 for his career. Suárez is the 12th currently active player to have 300 career homers. After the game in the clubhouse, his teammates toasted the milestone followed by a Suárez making a short speech. “It means a lot,” Suárez said. “I never thought that this guy from Venezuela would be putting my name on that list and hit so many home runs. It’s very special. It’s very good. I feel great. I feel like dreams come true because I’ve been working so hard my entire career. I put everything that I can on the field and all the hard work showed up today.” Suárez's wife and daughters flew from the family home in Miami to Denver to be at the game. |
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“I think that this team, even with the rough patches and stuff, the vibes have never gotten too low and when we win a few, I don't think the vibes have ever gotten too high. I think that's a good place for us to be. I think we play very even keel baseball, and regardless of the opponent, regardless of our record and everything, I think we come out and we just play our brand of baseball, and I think that's what's gonna help us push the needle further ahead.” -- Nelson, on the team's ups and downs |
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