April 26: Miller’s MRI is being sent to Dr. James Andrews for a third opinion, writes MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. Miller, according to Gilbert, was asked directly if the first two readings of his MRI results showed a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
“They see something in there,” Miller said to reporters. “They haven’t given me specifics yet, exactly what it is or how we’re going to handle it or what we’re going to do to fix it.”
Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic spoke to D-backs manager Torey Lovullo about the impending third opinion, though Lovullo downplayed the ominous nature of that development.
“It’s part of the plan that we had talked about all along where we were going to have this group look at it and come together and get as much information as we possibly could, and pass it along to Shelby and figure out what the best game plan is,” Lovullo told McManaman.
April 24, 6:50pm: Miller is slated to visit orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache for a second opinion, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic tweets.
4:36pm: As expected, the Diamondbacks have moved righty Shelby Miller to the 10-day with forearm tightness, per a club announcement. He was forced out of his start yesterday with an apparent injury, prompting obvious concern from within the organization.
[RELATED: Updated Diamondbacks Depth Chart]
For the time being, reliever Silvino Bracho will take the open roster spot. It’s not immediately clear how the club will fill the gap in its rotation, though it seems reasonable to think that righty Archie Bradley could get a shot. The former top prospect has thrived thus far in a bullpen role.
There’s still no word on a diagnosis for Miller, who entered the year looking to engineer a turnaround following a disastrous debut season in Arizona. Through 22 innings over four starts, he had worked to a 4.09 ERA with 8.2 K/9 but also 4.9 BB/9 while sitting around a career-best 95 mph with his fastball.
All things considered, those numbers provided both cause for optimism and reason for wariness. The hope remains that the 26-year-old has avoided a significant injury, so that both Miller and the team have the chance to find out whether he’s capable of making a full rebound.
TradeAcuna
But will Miller’s production on the DL surpass Inciarte’s, Blairs, and Swansons overall season production this year?
VinScullysSon
To be fair Swanson has hit like crap so far this year.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Swanson isn’t the only player the Diamondbacks gave up in that trade.
RunDMC
He is allowed to, isn’t he? To be fair, he is playing.
darenh
Swanson is totally overmatched in the MLB right now batting. .139/.162/.193 so let’s not jump off any tall buildings yet.
That being said, every writer, analyst and educated fan hated that trade the Instant it occurred so rest easy.
TradeAcuna
They are still raving over Byron Buxton. These same people thought Profar will be a star too. Who cares what they think? Either produce or you are a bust!
TheMichigan
It’s also decently early in the season. Trust me, us tiger fans know how much a small sample size is really worth. (Looking at you April 2016 Jordan Zimmerman.)
TradeAcuna
You are comparing a proven pitcher to a rookie who has done nothing at the major league level with a decent sample size!
chesteraarthur
He’s got a -6 wRC+. That puts him at 188/189 (Byron Buxton and his 50%k rate has a solid -22 wRC+)
TheMichigan
Sample Sizes have no bias to service time. Swanson had a good sample last year, so did Turner, Schimpf and Story and they are all struggling now.
It’s to early to pull the plug on Swanson let alone any sophomore who is struggling when the sample is so small.
Vedder80
That’s not true. Every educated Braves fan loved it.
dodgerfan711
Your entire basis is just wrong. You keep bringing up swanson but ignore the fact that alone ender inciarte is already worth more then miller. And millers is a proven pitcher? You mean proven mediocre. Liking the prospect and judging a trade are 2 different things. Yes swanson looks overrated now but that doesn’t make the trade look any better for Arizona
redsfan48
Miller was definitely a proven pitcher at the time of the trade, but yes, Inciarte is definitely worth more than Miller now. Also, it’s impossible to judge Swanson until he at least has a full MLB season.
mcdusty31
He will be more useful to the D’Backs on the DL this year than he was on the active roster last year
RunDMC
Not the way he was pitching, which wasn’t incredible but he looked better than he did all of 2016.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Now put Archie in the rotation and leave him there. The way the Diamondbacks have handled him the past 2 years is maddening.
sidewinder11
Hopefully they keep Archie in the bullpen. He seems to be very comfortable there and the bullpen needs that anchor.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Nah m8 they’re wasting him by using him as a reliever.
phillies012tg
I remember brewers fans saying the same about Tyler Thornburg, worked out pretty well for them.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
He’ll be more valuable in the rotation
lesterdnightfly
“This has to be one of the most biased articles ive read on this website. Dbacks never get any love from any media source…..”
See ? Proof !!!!
(Just joking….)
Andrew Cromack
Usually when you qoute someone u site the source…….. guess ur just trolling me though
Dookie Howser, MD
quote
you
cite
you’re
Andrew Cromack
Watch out guys we got a grammar Nazi here!
chesteraarthur
It seems odd to be going for a 3rd opinion and not know what your results are yet
outinleftfield
Pretty sure he knows its TJ, he just doesn’t want to admit it yet.
chesteraarthur
I assume it is something like this. It’s just such a weird thing to say, “They haven’t told me what my mris say”. Something like, I’m waiting for another opinion, they were unclear….pretty much anything other than it’s something in there but they haven’t told me what it is yet.
reflect
I’m also not sure why the consensus expert on Tonny John stuff wasn’t the first opinion 2 weeks ago.
It’s like his car is broken down and he went to 2 gas stations for help, and now he’s seeing an actual mechanic for a third opinion.
reflect
Tommy? Not Tonny.
mcdusty31
No he meant Tonny…it’s a new thing they’re trying out
agentx
First opinion? “Your forearm tightness is a strong indicator of ligament damage that may require surgery.”
Second opinion? “You need Tommy John surgery.”
Third opinion? “Dave Stewart and Tony LaRussa really did blow that trade as badly as everyone says.”
matteoscher
The irony when a pitcher meets doctor Andrews and says “Nice to meet you.”
Tiger_diesel92
Anyone notice when he wasn’t giving the heat now but last two year when he wasn’t around that range he didn’t have problems with his arm? Should stop throwing as hard as possible and actually think of being pitcher..you can win without the heat..deception and off speed is enough to beat a hitter
truebluebrewcrew82
With these young players, just give them time. It’s very easy for every team to rush a player through their system because they think they have the next Kershaw or Bryant. Sometimes keeping a player down one more season, or a couple weeks of major league experience. Yes, players like Profar and Buxton should be playing up to the hype, but sometimes just a simplification or change of scenery is all a player needs.
Look at Segura, “the future of Milwaukee baseball” well he turned out to not be the future, but he did go to Arizona and had 200 hits in a season. (Followed by a good 2017 start in Seattle)