Diamondbacks Outright Luken Baker
The D-Backs sent first baseman Luken Baker outright to Triple-A Reno, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Arizona had designated him for assignment when they welcomed Lourdes Gurriel Jr. back from the injured list on Saturday. This is Baker’s second career outright, meaning he has the right to elect free agency.
Baker was on the major league roster for a little less than two weeks. He was called up on April 7 as a bench bat once the Snakes lost Carlos Santana to an adductor strain. The D-Backs only gave him one start over his 11 days on the active roster. Baker went 1-5 while striking out three times over three games overall.
That marked the fourth straight season with some MLB action for the former second-round draftee. It’s his first MLB work outside of St. Louis. The former Cardinals draftee had spent his career in that organization until he was claimed off waivers by the Dodgers last August. Baker didn’t appear in an MLB game with Los Angeles, who outrighted him off the 40-man roster within a week of claiming him. He joined Arizona on an offseason minor league deal.
The righty hitter owns a .206/.314/.333 batting line across 194 plate appearances at the big league level. Baker mashed a combined 65 home runs in Triple-A between 2023-24. His minor league production backed up last year, as he slashed a league average .223/.335/.441 through 95 games across the two systems.
Baker is out of minor league options, so the D-Backs needed to run him through waivers to take him off the MLB roster. It’d make sense for him to remain in the organization given their lack of established first basemen. Santana is joined by Pavin Smith and Tyler Locklear on the injured list. Utilityman Ildemaro Vargas and rookie infielder Jose Fernandez are splitting the first base work.
Diamondbacks Sign Andrew Velazquez To Minor League Deal
The Diamondbacks have signed infielder Andrew Velazquez to a minor league deal, according to an announcement from their Triple-A affiliate. The 31-year-old is represented by CAA Sports.
Velazquez had been with the Rangers on a non-roster deal since early December. He got into 16 Spring Training games but batted just .111/.194/.185 in 32 plate appearances. The Rangers released him at the end of March, and Velazquez lingered in free agency until this pact with Arizona. He has not appeared in the majors since 2023 with the Angels and has spent the last two years at the Triple-A level with the Braves and Yankees, respectively.
In 368 PA with the Yankees’ top affiliate in 2025, Velazquez batted .242/.304/.345 with a 74 wRC+. That production was par for the course for Velazquez, whose last meaningful sample as an above-average hitter came in 2021 at Triple-A (119 wRC+ in 306 PA). Since that season, he has shown minimal power at every level including the majors, without making contact or getting on base enough to approach even average offense. He has some fringe value due to his speed, though. In 224 minor league games since the start of 2024, Velazquez has stolen 58 bases.
Defensively, Velazquez has mostly played at shortstop in the majors. In 2022, he was valued at 11 Defensive Runs Saved and 3 Outs Above Average in 906 innings there with the Angels. He regressed the following season in a smaller sample, coming in at -5 DRS and -3 OAA in 233 1/3 innings. He’s been roughly average with the glove outside of those two years. Since 2024, he’s also gotten some minor-league work in the outfield, and the Diamondbacks’ announcement lists him as a utilityman, rather than strictly an infielder.
Versatility aside, Velazquez is merely a no-risk depth option for Arizona. The club has Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte lined up at shortstop and second base, respectively. They haven’t hit well to start the year, but Perdomo had a breakout season in 2025 and is in the first year of a new contract extension, so he’s not going anywhere. Neither is Marte, who has a track record as one of the best second basemen in the league. Nolan Arenado is 35 and struggling offensively and defensively at third base, but likewise, his track record gives him plenty of leeway. At best, Velazquez will be called up at some point an emergency defensive option if one of the regulars lands on the injured list.
Photo courtesy of Mike Watters, Imagn Images
Diamondbacks Reinstate Lourdes Gurriel Jr., DFA Luken Baker
After suffering a torn right ACL on September 1, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is ready for his return to the majors, as the Diamondbacks officially reinstated the outfielder from the 10-day injured list. To make room for Gurriel on the 26-man and 40-man rosters, first baseman Luken Baker was designated for assignment.
D’Backs manager Torey Lovullo hinted yesterday that Gurriel could be in Arizona’s lineup as soon as this weekend, completing what has been a remarkably quick comeback from such a serious knee surgery. Gurriel was projected to miss 9-10 months given the usual timeframe for ACL tears, yet he made such solid progress in Spring Training and in just two games of a minor league rehab assignment that the D’Backs felt comfortable in bringing him back after a little over seven and a half months.
Depending on how Gurriel’s knee holds up, he might end up getting fairly regular duty in his old left field position pretty soon, without the need for steady DH duty. Pretty much no matter where Gurriel plays, it was easy to project Baker as the odd man out of a roster crunch, as Baker has appeared in only three games (with five plate appearances) since his minor league contract was selected on April 7.
Arizona signed Baker to that minors deal in December, and possibly with an eye towards platooning Baker and Pavin Smith at the position. Carlos Santana was signed later in the season to fill that role, yet the first base situation was thrown into total flux shortly after Opening Day. Smith played in two games before being placed on the IL due to a balky elbow that has now required surgery, and Santana has also been out since April 6 due to an adductor strain.
Baker’s contract was selected in the wake of Santana’s injury, yet Baker didn’t get much opportunity due to the unexpectedly strong play of Jose Fernandez and utilityman Ildemaro Vargas in handling the first base duties. The D’Backs seem content to leave the position (and a share of the DH workload) to that duo, leaving Baker now exposed to the waiver wire.
If Baker clears waivers, he has the right to decline an outright assignment to Triple-A Reno in favor of free agency, since Baker has a previous outright in his career (last August, when Baker was in the Dodgers organization). The first baseman could opt to just move on given how Arizona’s first base picture has remained crowded, or another team might look to claim Baker just as the Dodgers did last August when the Cardinals parted ways with the 29-year-old.
Baker spent his first three MLB seasons in St. Louis, hitting .206/.317/.338 with four home runs over 189 PA. While his power hasn’t translated much against big league pitching and Baker is defensively limited as a first base-only player, he has posted good numbers at Triple-A, and could be viewed as at least a depth option.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Nearing A Return
The Diamondbacks could get Lourdes Gurriel Jr. back just in time for a matchup against his former team. “Don’t be surprised if you see him in our lineup this weekend,” manager Torey Lovullo told the Burns & Gambo Show. The outfielder is less than eight months removed from tearing his ACL near the end of the 2025 season. Francys Romero of BeisbolFR reports Gurriel is with the team in Arizona. The Diamondbacks kicked off a three-game set against the Blue Jays on Friday.
Gurriel’s 2025 campaign ended in the sixth inning of a matchup against the Rangers on the first day of September. While converging with Blaze Alexander on a fly ball in the left-center gap, Gurriel swerved to avoid the diving center fielder. He immediately went down with a knee injury and had to be carted off the field. ACL tears typically sideline players for 9-10 months, but Gurriel is on track to smash that timeline.
While he didn’t make it back in time for Opening Day, like he had mentioned to Lovullo in the offseason, Gurriel was back on the field Wednesday. He walked and doubled in four plate appearances with Double-A Amarillo. The 32-year-old followed it up with a three-run home run in last night’s game.
The original plan was for Gurriel to return to the Diamondbacks as the DH in an effort to ease him back into action. That might not be necessary anymore, based on his rapid recovery. “We’re going to just judge it on his volume and what he’s giving us,” Lovullo told reporters, including Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports. “So if he were to come back sooner than later, we will put him in the outfield, see what that volume looks like, see how he feels the next day and then just guide through it with him.”
The Diamondbacks have struggled to get production from their left fielders, especially since Jordan Lawlar went down. The club has the sixth-lowest OPS at the position at .553. Most of that production came from Lawlar, who went 6-for-18 with a home run before breaking his wrist a week into the season. Tim Tawa and Jorge Barrosa have handled the majority of the reps in left.
Gurriel came back to Arizona this offseason on a $13MM player option. He had the opportunity to opt out of the three-year, $42MM deal he signed heading into the 2024 season. The ACL injury made it an easy decision to stay with the Diamondbacks. Gurriel had a career-low 95 wRC+ in 2025, but did hit 19 home runs and chip in 10 steals.
Photo courtesy of Rob Schumacher of The Republic, via Imagn Images
Brewers Acquire Junior Fernández
The Diamondbacks have traded right-hander Junior Fernández to the Brewers, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Nashville. It’s unclear what Arizona gets in return, but since they signed Fernández to a minor league deal in the offseason, it was probably just a nominal amount of cash.
Fernández, 29, has long had intriguing stuff. He tossed 54 big league innings from 2019 to 2022. His 5.17 earned run average in that time wasn’t especially impressive but both his four-seamer and sinker averaged over 98 miles per hour in his most recent season. He also featured a slider and changeup in the upper 90s. Like a lot of power arms, control has been an issue. Fernández has walked 13.9% of the batters he has faced in the majors so far.
For the past few years, he’s been stuck in the minors and also spent 2024 in Japan. He’s still flashing the big velo but also the lack of control. He signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks this winter and was in camp with them last month. He faced 22 batters and walked three of them without striking anyone out. At the end of camp, the Triple-A Reno Aces put him on the development list, so he hasn’t pitched in any official minor league games yet this year.
The Brewers have a good reputation when it comes to getting good results out of pitchers, so perhaps they see some way to make it all work for Fernández. The skills are there but he hasn’t been able to fully utilize them yet. If he eventually gets up to the majors, he is out of options.
Photo courtesy of Allan Henry, Imagn Images
Pavin Smith To Undergo Elbow Surgery
Diamondbacks first baseman Pavin Smith will undergo surgery to remove loose bodies from his injured left elbow, reports the team’s radio broadcaster Chris Garagiola. The team already transferred Smith to the 60-day injured list this afternoon when they needed a 40-man roster spot for third catcher Aramis Garcia.
That IL move ruled Smith out through the end of May. It’s unclear if he’ll be ready to return at that point. The initial diagnosis had merely been inflammation. Smith’s elbow had been a nagging issue throughout Spring Training. He had a cortisone shot when he went on the injured list at the end of March, but that apparently wasn’t enough to treat the issue.
Tyler Locklear is also recovering from offseason surgeries on his elbow and shoulder. That pressed Carlos Santana into everyday first base work, for which he’s ill suited in his age-40 season. Santana himself went down with an adductor strain a little over a week ago.
Utility infielder Ildemaro Vargas has been pressed into the primary job at a position he’d barely played in his career. To his credit, Vargas has begun the season on an absolute tear, but he’s a lifetime .253/.294/.365 hitter in more than 1300 plate appearances. This clearly isn’t an ideal setup. Luken Baker and rookie Jose Fernandez are also in the mix, though the D-Backs have needed Fernandez for primary DH work.
Although the position player injuries are piling up, the Snakes did provide some promising news on the health front this week. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. will begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Amarillo tomorrow, the minor league team announced. Position players can spend up to 20 days on a rehab stint. Barring setbacks, Gurriel will be back with the MLB club within the next two to three weeks.
It’s a quick turnaround for a player who tore the ACL in his right knee in September. That required surgery and initially came with a 9-10 month recovery timeline that seemed it’d sideline him until close to the All-Star Break. Gurriel instead looks like he’ll be back around the end of April. The D-Backs figure to mix in a decent amount of DH time in addition to his work in left field. They can use help at both positions considering Jordan Lawlar will be out into June with a broken wrist. Tim Tawa and Jorge Barrosa are splitting the left field reps for the time being.
D-backs Announce Several Roster Moves
The Diamondbacks announced a slate of roster moves Tuesday. Catcher Gabriel Moreno was placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to April 11) due to an oblique strain. Fellow catcher Aramis Garcia has had his contract selected from Triple-A and will take Moreno’s spot on the roster, serving as a complement to veteran James McCann and 26-year-old Adrian Del Castillo. Arizona moved first baseman/designated hitter Pavin Smith from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to clear a 40-man spot for Garcia. The Snakes also reinstated right-hander Merrill Kelly from the 15-day injured list and optioned right-hander Taylor Rashi to Triple-A Reno.
Moreno missed the past three games after what was originally termed as a back issue. The Diamondbacks haven’t provided a timetable, but historically speaking, it’s common for even low-grade oblique strains to sideline a player for close to a month. The former top prospect is one of baseball’s more complete catchers, combining elite defense with above-average offense in each season of his still-young big league career. He was out to a fine start in 2026, hitting .275/.333/.400 in 45 turns at the plate.
With Moreno sidelined, the D-backs can use the lefty-hitting Del Castillo against right-handed pitching and the righty-swinging McCann versus southpaws. Garcia provides a viable third catching option on the roster and also has some experience at first base. He’s probably relegated to third catcher status in this setup, with Del Castillo the most obvious beneficiary on paper. He hasn’t gotten a consistent look in the majors, thanks largely to Moreno’s presence, but Del Castillo is a .276/.322/.439 hitter in 239 big league plate appearances and touts a .292/.381/.535 line in parts of four seasons (712 plate appearances) in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Garcia, 33, has played sparingly in parts of six major league seasons — including a two-game cup of coffee in Arizona last year. He’s a lifetime .208/.245/.321 hitter in 331 plate appearances. He’s never logged more than 115 plate appearances in a given major league season but is a career .240/.316/.436 hitter in just under 1400 Triple-A plate appearances.
Kelly’s return from the injured list was expected. The team moved righty Brandon Pfaadt to the bullpen yesterday to clear a spot in the rotation, where Kelly will join Zac Gallen, Eduardo Rodriguez, Ryne Nelson and offseason signee Michael Soroka. The 37-year-old Kelly also signed with Arizona this winter, returning to the D-backs on a two-year, $40MM deal after closing out the 2025 season in Texas following a deadline trade that netted three pitching prospects from the Rangers (Kohl Drake, Mitch Bratt, David Hagaman).
Kelly will make his first start of the season for the Snakes tonight against the Orioles. He was slowed by back discomfort early in spring training and was thus limited to only two starts during exhibition play in the Cactus League. Kelly tossed five shutout frames for Triple-A Reno in what wound up being his only rehab outing. He might be on something of a pitch/workload limit in his season debut as he continues to build up, but it shouldn’t be long before he’s back to his workhorse ways atop manager Torey Lovullo’s rotation.
D-Backs Move Brandon Pfaadt To Bullpen
The Diamondbacks are moving Brandon Pfaadt to the bullpen, relays José M. Romero of The Arizona Republic. Merrill Kelly will be activated from the 15-day injured list to start tomorrow’s game in Baltimore.
This was the expectation. Zac Gallen, Eduardo Rodriguez and Ryne Nelson are locked into the rotation. Manager Torey Lovullo said last week that the Snakes were not considering a six-man group. Entering the season, the plan was probably for Michael Soroka to slide to long relief once Kelly was ready to go.
However, Soroka has looked very sharp in his first three starts as a Diamondback. The righty has struck out 23 of 67 batters faced (34.3%) while allowing just five runs through 15 2/3 frames. He has completed at least five innings in all three appearances, all of which the D-Backs have won.
Pfaadt has had a much shakier start to the season. The righty has allowed 12 runs (11 earned) over 16 2/3 innings. He has punched out 11 while walking six batters and surrendering three home runs. If Pfaadt were coming off a strong 2025 season, the Diamondbacks probably would have given him a longer leash. He struggled to a 5.25 earned run average with a modest 19.2% strikeout rate a season ago. Pfaadt pounds the strike zone but has battled home run issues throughout his three-plus years in the big leagues.
The Diamondbacks could have optioned him to keep him stretched out as a starter. Their Triple-A affiliate in Reno plays in an exceedingly hitter-friendly environment, so that may not have been a great setting to get him on track.
Arizona could also use any help they can get in one of the league’s weakest bullpens. Their relief corps entered play Monday with a 4.50 ERA that ranked 21st in MLB. That doesn’t include tonight’s disastrous performance. The trio of Taylor Rashi (who was immediately optioned after the game), Jonathan Loáisiga, and Andrew Hoffmann gave up seven runs and an inherited runner across 2 2/3 innings in relief of Nelson. They squandered a 7-1 lead and dropped the series opener against the Orioles by a 9-7 score.
Pfaadt could immediately draw some high-leverage assignments. The D-Backs will presumably give him another rotation opportunity at some point. He’s in the first season of the five-year, $45MM extension he signed on the eve of the 2025 season. A short-term bullpen stint might allow him to simplify his arsenal. Pfaadt has thrown six pitches at least 10% of the time, including a marked uptick in his curveball use compared to last season.
Kelly made one rehab start for Reno and pitched a game at extended spring training on Thursday. That was evidently all the ramp-up he needed from his season-opening injured list stint. Kelly was diagnosed with intercostal nerve irritation early in Spring Training. He was able to pitch by the end of camp but needed a couple extra weeks to build his arm. The injury robbed Kelly of what would have been his first career Opening Day start but didn’t wind up being all that significant overall, especially with Soroka stepping up to seize the open rotation spot.
Diamondbacks Will Place Gabriel Moreno On Injured List
The Diamondbacks are going to place catcher Gabriel Moreno on the injured list, per Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. Manager Torey Lovullo described it as a muscular issue in Moreno’s back and added that the team doesn’t expect a long absence for him.
It was reported a few hours ago that Moreno was set to undergo an MRI today after leaving yesterday’s game against the Phillies after playing just two innings. Lovullo initially described Moreno as day-to-day with lower back tightness, and for his part, the catcher downplayed the severity of his injury. From that lens, it seemed like today’s MRI was done out of an abundance of caution. The end result is a little more serious, as Moreno will now miss a minimum of 10 days, though the team is clearly confident it won’t be much longer than that.
The 26-year-old has been Arizona’s primary catcher since arriving in December 2022 via trade with the Blue Jays. That deal saw a strong defender in Daulton Varsho head to Toronto, though Moreno has shown excellent defense himself in his time with the Diamondbacks. He has been worth 32 Defensive Runs Saved from 2023-26, including an astonishing 20 DRS in 2023 alone. Statcast put him in the 61st percentile last year for caught stealing above average, while his blocking, pop time, and framing were all in the 80th percentile or better. It also helps that Moreno is a capable hitter, having posted a 102 wRC+ or higher in every season since 2023. He is off to a 107 wRC+ start this year in 45 plate appearances.
In the short term, James McCann and Adrian Del Castillo will see some more playing time behind the plate. McCann is a veteran of 13 big-league seasons and was 10% better than average offensively last year by wRC+. He is struggling so far in 2026, with six strikeouts in 18 PA. Del Castillo is 26 and has a 106 wRC+ in 230 PA from 2024-26, with most of that production coming in a limited sample in 2024. The two are passable defenders and hit from opposite sides (Del Castillo being the lefty), so it’s possible the club will use them in a platoon until Moreno is able to return. McCann could draw starts against southpaws in that scenario, as he performed better with the platoon advantage last year.
Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images
Diamondbacks Notes: Moreno, Carroll, Kelly, Pfaadt
Gabriel Moreno is set to undergo an MRI today after leaving yesterday’s game due to lower back tightness, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes. Manager Torey Lovullo told Piecoro and other media yesterday that Moreno was viewed as day-to-day, and the catcher downplayed the seriousness of the issue.
The MRI could simply be a precaution given Moreno’s early exit. Moreno took one plate appearance and caught the first two innings of the Diamondbacks’ 5-4 win over the Phillies, and Moreno ended the bottom of the second by throwing out Justin Crawford on a steal attempt. Once the bottom of the third began, however, James McCann had replaced Moreno behind the plate.
The D’Backs are better equipped than most teams in handling a day-to-day injury to a catcher, as McCann and Adrian Del Castillo are both already on the active roster. Since Arizona is already dealing with several injuries up and down the lineup, the club has been able to find at-bats for all three backstops, as Del Castillo (who himself started the season on the injured list with a minor calf strain) has made two starts at DH.
Despite this catching depth, obviously the Diamondbacks hope Moreno’s back issue won’t prevent him from soon returning to action. Moreno has a solid .275/.333/.400 slash line and five doubles over his first 45 plate appearances, making him one of the more productive hitters within an Arizona lineup that has yet to really get going this season.
Corbin Carroll has been a huge part of the Diamondbacks’ offense, beginning his season by hitting .333/.408/.690 with two homers and three triples in 49 PA. The hot start came in spite of a hamate surgery that cost Carroll most of Spring Training, but he is now dealing with a new injury — a minor hip problem that has sidelined him for the last two games. Lovullo said Carroll was available off the bench yesterday and might play as early as today, plus the hip injury wasn’t considered serious enough to merit an MRI for further examination.
Moving onto the pitching side of the injured list, Merrill Kelly is slated to make his season debut during Arizona’s upcoming road series in Baltimore, which begins on Monday. Lovullo told Piecoro and company that the plan is for Kelly to toss a bullpen session with the big league team this weekend, as a final check-up before Kelly is activated from the 15-day injured list.
Kelly’s injury was officially termed as intercostal nerve irritation. The bad back kept the right-hander on the shelf for most of Spring Training, and cost him the honor of being the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day starter. Kelly tossed 6 1/3 innings during three Cactus League games, five innings during a Triple-A rehab start on April 3, and 83 pitches over six innings of work during an extended Spring Training game last Thursday (as per reporter Jody Jackson).
With Kelly on the verge of returning, Piecoro feels Brandon Pfaadt will probably be removed from the rotation. Pfaadt is starting today’s game with the Phillies, so there might be a bit of extra pressure on the right-hander if he’s competing to keep his spot. Michael Soroka is the other starter whose rotation spot is less assured, but Soroka has a 2.87 ERA through 15 2/3 innings and three starts.
While Soroka has been solid, Pfaadt has a 6.75 ERA over 10 2/3 frames in his first two starts of 2026. If he isn’t starting, Piecoro writes that the D’Backs could use Pfaadt in an extended long relief role on the active roster, rather than send him to Triple-A to keep him stretched out as a proper starter.