Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno exited following the second inning of Wednesday’s Wild Card round matchup with the Brewers. He was hit in the head by Brice Turang’s backswing after the rookie whiffed on a curveball from Zac Gallen. The 23-year-old initially remained in the game, finishing the inning behind the dish, but he did not come out for the following frame.
Moreno has not yet received a diagnosis, but if he suffered a concussion, he could be out for at least seven days. That would come as a tough loss for the Diamondbacks, who will enter the NLDS against the Dodgers as the unmistakable underdogs. The young catcher was one of their best hitters over the second half of the season, batting .317 with a 144 wRC+ since the start of July. He carried his hot bat into the playoffs, crushing the go-ahead home run in Game 1 off Brewers ace Corbin Burnes.
In other postseason injury news…
- Max Fried threw five innings in a simulated game on Tuesday. The All-Star southpaw hasn’t pitched for the Braves since mid-September as he deals with a blister on his left index finger. Manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including Mark Bowman of MLB.com) that Freid’s blister had healed “very well,” and although he wore a band-aid on Tuesday, his finger “looks good without anything on it.” Thus, it seems like he’ll be ready to start against the Phillies on Monday in Game 2 of the NLDS. If that goes well, the off days in the schedule could also allow him to pitch Game 5, if necessary.
- According to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times, Daniel Hudson will pitch during an intrasquad game on Thursday. The Dodgers righty only made three appearances during the regular season and has not played in a big league game since July 5, but he hasn’t ruled out an October return. He won’t be available for the NLDS, but he could pitch later in the postseason should the Dodgers advance. Over the past three years, Hudson has been an excellent reliever when healthy, pitching to a 2.85 ERA and 2.60 SIERA in 79 innings of work. Unfortunately, he has dealt with a litany of injuries since last summer, including a torn ACL, ankle tendinitis, and, most recently, an MCL sprain in his right knee.
Hudson may be a veteran but how can any player get airdropped into championship games after not playing competitively for more than a year?
Its not “how” he can be air dropped into the series, but “why”?
I doubt it’s going to happen too, short of some sort of injury emergency. Just a little surprising to hear it discussed as a possibility, when really, it probably isn’t.
He last pitched July 5th.
As I well know he pitched all of three innings this season, three months ago. They should be discounted since they are of little or no value in preparing for a postseason.
Oh no! The dodgers should just give up now if they’re considering using this injury prone has been.
Leave it to blue sky to find the silver lining on the Dodgers season.
What?
Yeah, WHAT!? Did Dr. Meredith just call blueskies an optimist? What a quack!
🙁
And Friedman & company will stick him in the most high leverage pivotal moment of a series.
Hmmmm….. 2 World Series rings if I’m not mistaken
As long as the player is on the 40 man roster before the September deadline, mlb allows this. Cubs did it with shawrber in ‘16, had the advantage of no scouting reports. Sounds like tho dodgers are running out of healthy pitchers.
@BlueSkies: LOL! I was actually going to make a joke about how if you include the minors he’s actually pitched 11.1 innings. It was going to be a joke because that really won’t tell us anything or mean much toward Hudson being prepared for one of the biggest games of the year but Mr.Creature mentions the 3 IP he pitched in July in a serious way. =}
@Meredith. Ya really..what?
We’re just about as likely to see Almonte or Treinen as Hudson, and they have a couple of possible call-ups if needed before throwing Hudson into the mix.
He’s just an option. They’ll pitch him in intrasquad games in front of season ticket holders against some of the best hitters in baseball. If he’s not ready, they’ll give him a seat between Jimmy Nelson and Blake Treinen. If he looks good striking out players like Michael Busch and Mookie Betts, they might use him as a RP.
Having Daniel Hudson get healthy in October isn’t the worst problem to have.
It’s fortunate that Gabriel Moreno’s name is not Will Smith, otherwise we’d never hear the end of the moaning & condemnation of Brice Turang.
Will Smith is one of the biggest babies in the league. And like babies, his arms are freakishly short.
Are you saying he may have some raptor DNA I’m him?
This would be such a contemptible comment if it wasn’t also just so inane and merit less that it’s funny. Or maybe you, like Smith, have been hit on the head by a bat multiple times and thus also have an excuse.
Underdog
If Smith wants to set up in the arc of the backswing, that’s his problem, the batter is entitled to stand in the batting box where he sees fit and swing however hard he wants. Do run along.
Keep my rival NL West catcher’s name out yo’ mouth… oops, wrong Will Smith impersonation!
Or is it?
At what point should I be concerned about this rash?
I really respect your concern for literacy in Mississippi. =}
ies.ed.gov/ncee/rel/Products/Region/southeast/Publ…
I’m curious why the top seeded Braves drew the Phillies instead of the lower seeded D-Backs? Not suggesting the 84-win D-Backs are pushovers, but I believe LA got a break playing them instead of the 90-win Phillies.
The AL matchups went according to what I believed the seeding dictated. The #1 seeded Orioles are playing the lowest remaining seed, the #5 Rangers, while the #2 seeded Astros get the #3 seeded Twinkies.
Why the difference in the NL?
Brackets are locked once they’re set. Had the Blue Jays beaten the Twins, it would be the same scenario. I’ve been thinking with all of the other changes that MLB would take a look at only setting the Wild Card matchups and then setting the Division and Championship brackets once teams have advanced.
Thanks for the explanation. Makes sense now, but I didn’t know about pre-set brackets. Not sure why MLB changed the format.
Seems to me the highest seed ought to get every benefit in the playoff draws as a reward for having won the most games.
I’m a Phillies fan, and if given the choice, would have preferred playing LA than Atlanta in Round 2. Neither opponent would be easy, but I believe the Braves are the better team.
I’ll assume by your call sign that you are perhaps a transplanted Dodger fan now living in Houston. Whatever, both the Dodgers and Astros have the ingredients to make it all the way to the WS.
Is there any major sport that re-seeds round-by-round?
Dunno. But it can’t be too hard. The seedings are set based on the WL records. And the highest remaining seed always plays the lowest remaining seed, etc., etc.
Seems like the fairest way to do it IMHO.
Maybe a moot point. If my Phillies are going to get back to the WS again, the odds say they are going to have to beat Atlanta at some point. Might as well get it over with now.
If you count the NFL as a major sport then yes
Didn’t know the NFL re-seeds. Interesting. I know it’s been a discussion in NCAA basketball and football for a while now. I don’t really follow the NFL though.
The Braves were given the option and opted to whoop the Phillies a** this time around.
Lmao at Phillies fans wanting to avoid the target on their back. Time to pay your dues
Careful what you wish for: familiarity breeds contempt. Could we see an unlikely Phils DBacks NLCS?
That would be awesome. The D-Backs are such a fun team. Though, as a Phillies fan, I’d rather face the Dodgers.
They should be re-seeding after round 1.
The #2 Dodgers were seeded against the Milwaukee bracket because the Brewers won the NL Central.
The #1 Braves got the Wild Card bracket because Wild Cards are the lower seeds so the winner of those two plays the top seed.
That’s all there is to it.
Yeah, but I bet the Braves would rather play the D-Backs instead of the Phillies, especially since Gallen had to pitch yesterday.
Speaking on behalf of the Atlanta Braves organization, because I know they (and every other team out there) share these thoughts—
Why? Sneak into a championship? Take the easy way out? Maybe they can just hand the big ol’ cry baby Braves the commissioner’s trophy just for participating so they don’t get huffy and red in the face?
GIVE ME THE BEST YOU’VE GOT SO THAT NOBODY CAN QUESTION MY ACCOMPLISHMENT.
Braves path —
Phillies
Dodgers
Orioles/Astros
If anybody else sneaks in then substitute them into that list.
BRING IT
Well if that’s what the Braves prefer, then by all means, the system should be changed.
Uh huh. They should be re-seeding after round 1. We already know the setup is a bracket.
Would like to apologize to the baseball community for my fellow Braves fan mj-2. We all know every fan base has them.
This had slipped my attention as well. I also agree with Back/Backup Catcher as well. While the Phillies might prefer to play someone else, I would think the Braves would prefer to play another team as well. Maybe this will be a fun, close series.
The Braves and Dodgers do look like juggernauts but then, since 1969, the winningest team in baseball has one the world series just 12 times.
If your team is a top 3 pick to win the world series, remain humble. If the Phillies don’t win it all, nobody expected them to.
Sigh..one=won. I am so sorry. =}
The difference is the Dodgers will beat the Phillies, while the Phillies will beat the Braves and send their asses packing. Some familiarity there I guess. ^_^
Oh look at you being all grown up and posting baseball stuff. You’re just precious. =)
Was at the Brewer game last night. Sad to see the crowd descend into chaos. They were booing Moreno when he got checked on. In the post game show on the Milwaukee sports radio affiliate, a long time Brewer host accused the DBacks and Lovullo of milking the situation and delaying the game unnecessarily. Who knew fans in Wisconsin could turn so dark.
Was that Uecker? Listened to them when it happened during the game (via MLB app), but not post-game show.
No – Tim Allen, 97.3 the Game. Decades of frustration came boiling over it would seem. As a neutral party- that’s a pretty bad look. The home side were also really laying into Jesse Winker – chorus of boos on his successive pinch hits. Know he’s bad but why blame the hapless mercenary for all the club woes. It’s like Milwaukee has decided to out Bronx the Bronx
@SalaryCapper- every fanbase does have them. Ahem. (look up!)
9.9
@.@
9.9
Not a Dodger fan but am amazed how well they did with their injuries, they played the White Sox, I told my son it’s a different game with the Dodgers, no wonder they’re always good