Patrick Corbin of the Diamondbacks has suffered "damage to the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow," the club announced today. Tommy John surgery is the initial recommended course of action for Corbin, a source tells the Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro (Twitter). The 24-year-old, however, will seek a second opinion and will not be with the team to start the year. Needless to say, the injury could have wide-ranging implications for the club, which has spent big to win and has top prospect Archie Bradley waiting in the wings. Corbin is the most recent in a sudden run of young pitchers facing arm issues, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wrote earlier this morning, discussing the state of pitching injuries in the game. Here are some more notes from the division, as it gets ready to kick-start the season in Australia:
- The Diamondbacks plan to give Chris Owings the starting shortstop job, reports ESPN.com's Jim Bowden (Insider link). Preferring his bat to the glove of fellow youngster Didi Gregorius, Arizona could now be in a position to trade the latter. Gregorius had a solid rookie debut last year, putting up average defensive marks and a .252/.332/.373 triple-slash (along with seven home runs) in 404 plate appearances. Some believe he will have greater defensive value moving forward, making him a fairly attractive piece for teams in need of shortstop help, though Arizona appears determined to command a big return in a trade.
- The Rockies are looking at the trade market for a right-handed setup option, Bowden reports in the same piece. Of course, he also adds that LaTroy Hawkins is likely to cede the closer role to lefty Rex Brothers at some point, which would make Hawkins available (along with Matt Belisle) as a late-inning righty.
- Meanwhile, Colorado "remain[s] concerned with their leadoff spot and center field," both of which were vacated when the team decided to trade Dexter Fowler to the Astros to create payroll flexibility. This report caps off a confusing round of musical chairs for the Rockies. After trading away Dexter Fowler and his $7.35MM salary (along with whatever he'll earn through arbitration next year), the team added an aging Justin Morneau for nearly as much (two years, $12.5MM) and gave situational lefty Boone Logan the third-largest guarantee of any reliever this offseason (three years, $18.5MM). The team then dealt serviceable southpaw Josh Outman for Drew Stubbs, who is now part of a three-man group (including Brandon Barnes, who came in the Fowler deal, and Charlie Blackmon) that will probably form some kind of platoon in center, according to Bowden.
- Of course, Bowden adds, the Rockies also took on salary in adding starter Brett Anderson via trade. He has reportedly been very impressive, looking healthy and throwing like he did before his string of injury issues.
- The Rockies face a number of roster battles that are still too close to call, reports Troy Renck of the Denver Post. The team is not inclined at present to trade away Blackmon or fellow left-handed-swinging Corey Dickerson, though that may become an option at some point.
- We learned earlier this morning that Dodgers catcher Miguel Olivo is seeking his release to pursue opportunities with another club.
How about this. Pirates trade Tony Sanchez for Chris Owings. Then extend Russell Martin. Boom.
The Dbacks are giving Owings the starting job, so they wont trade him.
I don’t think thats set in stone yet.
I could see why they would lean in that direction with the pitching injuries. Might be thinking more offense could balance things out.
Eh. I don’t see Owings as a big upgrade over Mercer at the moment. Good thought though.
I’m so bummed about Corbin. He’s truly going to be missed if he needs to go under the knife. Now there is absolutely no excuse for sending Archie Bradley to the minors for some “seasoning”. The rotation situation could get real ugly, real fast with Corbin out (?), Arroyo with a sketchy back and Cahill with a jammed knee and Brandon McCarthy one pitch away from oblivion. A way for the Diamondbacks the settle down (or distract) the fanbase is to have Bradley start the first game of the Australian regular season games rather than the tune-up exposition game before then have him start the U.S. home opener against the Giants on March 31st.
It’s a real shame about Corbin, but it’s not time for desperation mode quite yet. The D-Backs have a fine team and they can tread water for a bit while the pitching situation settles down.
The FO knows their players best. It can get real ugly, real fast if Archie isn’t ready for the Bigs. The Twins experienced that last year with Kyle Gibson, their top pitching prospect. I understand that Bradley is a better prospect than Gibson ever was, but regardless, if Bradley isn’t ready, an out-of-control spiral that ends in AAA can be hard to watch and can’t be good for the psyche of a young ballplayer who has likely never experienced failure before.
The Damondbacks (in my opinion) make a lot of stupid moves but I can’t see them being that stupid to start Archie in Australia. There is actually no way no reason. All because Corbin will be out? Archie isn’t an ace regardless of what anyone thinks he will be. Letting him start the season jet lagged in Australia when he isn’t ready to begin with would be just as detrimental to Bradley as playing Bauer too soon was to him.
Obviously the Mets have the biggest need for a SS (well the Tigers probably have that now). The question is what is how high is his asking price going to be?
The Dbacks could ask for Rafael Montero and Kevin Plawecki
and? I wouldn’t do either, let alone both. That’s a top 100 prospect and a soon to be top 100 prospect for a good, but not great young SS who would be permanently blocked by Owings.
I’m not giving them either one of those guys for the perennially light hitting Gregorius. Owings, possibly, but not Gregorius. Don’t see Mets and D-Backs as a match, really.
I’m sure the Rockies FO knows what it’s doing…or, um…uh…
Fowler’s not very good, completely replaceable, and in his last two years of control. Rox had a very good off season IMO. If Anderson stays healthy they got an ace for a guy who may never pitch in the bigs, and in Stubbs they got a platoon center fielder for a mediocre LOOGY. Morneau was a little odd but they got him cheap. Best off-season on the NL West, or maybe second to Padres.
Fowler can lead off, was at or near the team top in OBP and covered a lot of ground in center. Stubbs is OK but strikes out at a pretty fair clip. Morneau, even cheap is a waste of money.
I agree. I think the Rockies should have just moved Cuddyer to 1B and used that 12.5 mil to upgrade the team elsewhere.
Has any other pitcher gone into the seventh inning this spring? Why Corbin? Why March 15th?
Because he was going to start the first game of the season on March 22