JUNE 17: As expected, Arizona reinstated Gallen from the IL this morning. Righty Humberto Castellanos was optioned to Triple-A Reno in a corresponding move.
JUNE 16: The Diamondbacks announced they’re planning to activate Zac Gallen from the injured list. He’ll start tomorrow afternoon’s game in San Francisco, his first MLB action in nearly six weeks.
Gallen went on the IL in mid-May with an ominous-sounding diagnosis: a minor sprain of the UCL in his throwing elbow. He wound missing a fairly notable amount of time, but the D-Backs are surely relieved it didn’t require any sort of surgical repair. Gallen looks like a potential cornerstone rotation piece for Arizona. Since the D-Backs acquired him from the Marlins for Jazz Chisholm Jr. at the 2019 trade deadline, he’s tossed 142 1/3 innings of 2.85 ERA/3.54 FIP ball with a strong 28.4% strikeout rate.
The 25-year-old has been limited to five starts this year, and the D-Backs have certainly felt his absence. Arizona starters have pitched to a disastrous 5.55 ERA, the second-worst mark in the league (the Pirates are at 5.57). Diamondbacks starters also rank near the bottom of the league in strikeout rate (20.4%), strikeout/walk rate differential (11.9 percentage points) and SIERA (4.55).
Quick turnaround considering he hasn’t really been ramped up much since being shutdown. I think they are going to be very cautious with him the rest of the year.
Will he be making minor league rehab starts?
No, he’s being activated tomorrow
How does he throw this hard; it’s insane
If he shows his healthy would then D’Backs entertain trade offers for him?
He’s*
There should be very few players on that roster who should be untouchable at the deadline.
Gallen might fall in the “untouchable” category when in comes to the trade deadline. Pretty special talent. Still, I’m sure he’ll be involved in a bunch of rumors whether he’s traded or not.
Nobody is going to be truly untouchable on that roster with the dumpster fire that is going on right now. Their farm system is in decent shape so it’s not like they have to trade him to spark a rebuild or anything, and he’s under team control for 4 more years so there should be no rush, but you better believe that they would at least listen to offers on him. As talented as he is they are in a rebuild, 6 of their top 10 prospects are pitchers, he’s never thrown more than 80 innings in a season, he’s coming off a UCL injury that if it pops up again could lead to TJ, and as vocal as he’s been about the foreign substance ban you gotta wonder if he’ll be less effective now that he’s back. Despite all of that someone may still be willing to offer up a pretty decent package for him based on the talent alone.
As a lowly Marlins fan, I root for Gallen and Chisholm Jr, and hope it turns out to be a famous one for one deal that worked out swimmingly for both teams.