The Diamondbacks will place right-hander Luke Weaver on the 10-day injured list following his recent shoulder discomfort and call up right-hander Corbin Martin to make his team debut in one of the remaining games of this four-game set against the Dodgers, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM reports (via Twitter).
Weaver, 27, exited his most recent outing with shoulder discomfort but expressed optimism after the fact that he could remedy the issue with a change to his mechanics. At the time the righty was optimistic that he’d avoid the injured list, but Gambadoro indicates that Weaver won’t make his scheduled start against the Rockies on Friday and is indeed IL-bound.
Acquired from the Cardinals as part of the Paul Goldschmidt trade, Weaver had an up-and-down season so far, sandwiching four ineffective starts between four pretty strong outings — two on either end of that rough stretch. Overall, the former first-rounder has a 4.50 ERA through 40 innings with a slightly below-average 22.8 percent strikeout rate but a better-than-average 7.8 percent walk rate. He’ll join Zac Gallen and Taylor Widener on an increasingly crowded D-backs injured list that also currently holds position players Ketel Marte, Asdrubal Cabrera, Christian Walker, Carson Kelly and Kole Calhoun.
Turning to the 25-year-old Martin, his promotion is of plenty note for the D-backs, who thought highly enough of the 2017 second-rounder to make him one of the key pieces they received from the Astros in return for Zack Greinke. Martin was on the injured list at the time, having undergone Tommy John surgery earlier in the 2019 season, but he entered that year regarded as one of the game’s 100 best prospects, ranking 78th at Baseball America and 81st at MLB.com. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs currently ranks Martin as the D-backs’ No. 6 prospect and the No. 114 prospect in baseball.
Martin did get his feet wet with the ’Stros before falling to that UCL injury, albeit in a small sample of 19 2/3 innings. He was roughed up for 14 runs in that time (two unearned), but his prospect pedigree and excellent minor league track record give plenty of hope that he can eventually be a big piece of the Arizona staff. He’s tossed 9 2/3 innings in Triple-A Reno this year and yielded only two runs with a 14-to-6 K/BB ratio.
The 2019 injury, the canceled 2020 minor league season and the delayed 2021 minor league campaign have all combined to limit Martin to a total of 201 2/3 innings in the minors, but he’s excelled at every level. The righty carries a career 2.54 ERA, a strong 27.8 percent strikeout rate, an 8.4 percent walk rate and a hearty 53.2 percent grounder rate in that time. He’s been as effective in Triple-A as he was in Double-A, logging a 2.87 ERA with 59 punchouts in 47 innings, although his 24 walks at that level are a bit more troubling. That’s the only level at which Martin has struggled with free passes, though, and scouting reports generally give him credit for average or above-average command.
Given last year’s lack of innings and the fact that he’s working back from major elbow surgery, Martin will probably see his workload managed rather judiciously in 2021. Still, his promotion gives the D-backs and their fans a first glimpse at a pitcher the club hopes can be a prominent contributor to the starting staff for the foreseeable future. If he sticks on the MLB roster this year, the D-backs would control him all the way through the 2025 season, but future optional assignments could push his free agency back even further.
Rooting for Martin. He was the guy I hoped didn’t get dealt away at any deadline deal.
Most likely Martin will start tonight in LA. They still need to call up another pitcher for Friday, which could be Josh Green or a bullpen game.
Nah it’s gonna be Duplantier
Duplantier’s days as a starter are over. Hasn’t been able to stay healthy over a full season since his 2017 breakout year. His only start in AAA was a 2 inning dud after being injured all Spring. Better options are available right now.
Lol I bet you said the same about Widener. Every pitcher has trash stats in the PCL, so it doesn’t matter as long as he shows good stuff. You don’t know what you’re talking about. His starter days are far from over, not when low-ceiling quad-A trash like Riley Smith are making starts. He was traveling with the major league team as recently as 2 weeks ago to potentially make a spot start.
The Dbacks to me are one of the most intriguing teams in the game.
They have a boat load of talent yet they play in the wrong division-dont see them making much noise with SD and LA there, along with the Giants as a nice surprise.
Where do they go? Full rebuild like COL? add talent to their young core? not sure-tricky team to judge
“Boat load of talent” is an exaggeration. They have a few decent ML players/prospects but no where close enough to being a competitive team.
They don’t need to do anything differently. In the 2010s, the Rays made the playoffs 4 times, Orioles made the playoffs 3 times, and the Blue Jays twice. These teams are in the same division as the Evil Empires Yankees and Red Sox. Like every team, the D’backs will build and improve on their own. They don’t need to pay attention or care what other teams in their division are doing. You think Buck Showalter’s Orioles, Anthopoulos’ Blue Jays, and Maddon’s Rays should’ve just throw in the towel every season because they’re in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox? What a defeatist loser mindset.
The Dbacks are already pretty much doing a full rebuild. Off the top of my head they have very few players making legit money. And while it’s not a huge market they can spend if they want to they are choosing to wait a few years and build up their young talent. Compared to the Rockies who are in a very similar market and in the same division its night and day. The Dbacks have a plan you can see it.
No one expected Giants to be where they are either so who knows what the D-backs might do in a year or two.
Nuttin like having your MLB debut against the reigning WS Champs*, good luck kid as this team needs something more than spot start out of ya
It’s not his MLB debut. He made his debut with the Astros years ago.
Mets MUST get Kris Bryant even if it costs 20 million, seriously!
Kris Bryant is gonna cost a lot more than 20 million lol. Even Jason Heyward cost 23 million and dude has always been trash except his rookie year cameo
Yeah Bryant is getting paid for sure. But if Bryant’s agent thinks using Heywards contract as a comp is going to help him hes mistaken.
Why are you using Heyward as an example? His contract is terrible and most of us know that.
My Rec ball team is willing to offer him $20 million. If that is what it took to sign him, he would be a life long Cub by now.
I’ve been looking forward to this is the part of the season. There isn’t a single team this year whose starting pitchers can log 30-32 starts after last season’s 1/3 schedule. The Dbacks have some intriguing depth in the form of young prospects—Corbin Martin, Jon Duplantier, Josh Green and Taylor Widener are just the first four to contribute. And the next wave is even better and deeper starting in the next two years.