The Diamondbacks’ 14-3 rout of the Dodgers today wasn’t an entirely smooth ride for Arizona, as left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. left the game after suffering some tightness in his left calf. The injury occurred when Gurriel was trying to beat out a grounder in the bottom of the sixth, and he was replaced in left field when the seventh inning began. Manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro) that Gurriel is day-to-day for now and will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.
Gurriel is hitting .274/.316/.428 with 17 home runs over 522 plate appearances this season, while posting solid defensive metrics across the board as the Diamondbacks’ everyday left fielder. The glovework is a bit less impressive than it was in 2023, but Gurriel’s 104 wRC+ is just a shade beneath his 105 wRC+ in 592 PA a year ago. That successful first season in Arizona and his continued hitting in the playoffs inspired the D’Backs to re-sign Gurriel in free agency last winter, bringing him back on a three-year, $42MM deal that includes a club option for 2027.
While Gurriel has been prone to pretty extreme hot-and-cold stretches at the plate, his streakiness has evened out to a pretty stable career track record. Over the last five 162-game Major League seasons, Gurriel has averaged no less than 1.6 fWAR and no more than 2.0 fWAR, though his 1.9 fWAR through 125 games this year could get a new highwater mark.
Of course, that’s assuming this calf problem doesn’t require a stint on the 10-day injured list. Calf injuries can be tricky to manage and anything more than minor cafe issues can tend to linger, so there will be some measure of concern in the Diamondbacks’ camp until the MRI comes back clean.
Arizona can hardly afford to lose another regular during the playoff hunt. Today’s victory put the Snakes five games back of the Dodgers in the NL West race, and just percentage points ahead of the Padres for the top NL wild card berth. While the D’Backs have built a little breathing room in their pursuit of at least a wild card, the team has hung in even though Ketel Marte, Christian Walker, and Gabriel Moreno are all on the 10-day IL.
The good news on the injury front is that Walker is “real close” to a return, Lovullo told Piecoro and company today. Walker could be back at some point during the Diamondbacks’ six-game road trip that begins Tuesday in San Francisco, as the first baseman has progressed to facing live pitching in workouts at the team’s Spring Training camp. It doesn’t appear as though Walker will need a minor league rehab assignment, even though he has been sidelined for over a month due to a left oblique strain.
Moreno’s IL stint (due to a groin strain) is also nearing the one-month mark, as Moreno hasn’t played since August 5. Lovullo said Moreno is hitting and has resumed catching drills. Marte is also taking live at-bats but isn’t yet running out of the batters’ box, as he continues to recover from an ankle sprain that sent him to the IL on August 18.
Good lord we can’t catch a break. Still beat the dodgers today missing 3 all stars. Dbacks deserve alot of credit
The most impressive team in baseball right now. Amazing what they’ve done since that rough start to the season! Bad timing on this injury luckily they have some depth. Not a huge d backs fan but they are a fun young exciting team! See a game or two at chase every year for the past few years when I’m in town. Go snakes!
“The most impressive”..What they’re doing now even trumps last years WS appearance, which any people wrote off as a fluke. I’m not necessarily a Dbacks fan, but it’s always nice to see a good business and baseball plan come to fruition.
Padres beg to differ about most impressive team
How do I downvote this?
Idk if you hate it that much you should flag me
Nah, I’d rather downvote you.
Aside from the series with Los Angeles I think the dbacks have the edge, padres also great recovery though wasn’t a knock on them.
If Dbacks get Walker, Marte and Moreno back for the post-season they will have great depth . Bell or Walker at 1b. Moreno or Del Castillo at C. Marte or Neumann at 2b. That’s a loaded bench!
I don’t know why Josh bell mashes after getting traded, he had a good run with the marlins last year and now he’s on another hot one
Calf strains are iffy at best, day to day that could be a week or so, well I guess you go with Grichuk in left now. Next man up!!!
Yes, with Barrosa and Alek Thomas available as well. What the Dbacks will miss if Gurriel can make it back is his hot streak power.
Thomas is currently on the 7-day IL.
It will also be interesting to see if Lawler can contribute in the post-season with his speed and defense like last year.
Assuming everyone’s healthy I don’t see Lawler seeing the field at all unless it’s in a pitch running situation. Suarez, Perdomo, and Marte are all plus defenders so it’s unlikely he’s a defensive sub late in games.
This is all part of the Dbacks depth improvement this year. Prospects like Lawler might not even appear in the post-season because the offense is loaded. But so is the pitching staff. No bullpen or opener games this year.
The Dbacks, as a team, have gone from barely making the playoffs last year, being considered a fluke to get to the WS, …to being a legitimate threat to win the WS this year. I would rate the Dbacks as the 5th best/most likely to win the WS this year.
The offense has scored the most runs in baseball by a wide margin. In a vacuum I doubt they are the best offense but it’s very good. The concerning thing is the pitching. Do we have a Gallen and Kelly problem. Both have pitched poorly since returning from injury. Gallen’s walk rate is out of control and Kelly has lost 2-3 mph’s on all his pitches. Based on how they are pitching now I thinking every dbacks fan feels way better with Pfaadt and Nelson on the bump.
I’m guessing Grichuck, Barrosa and Smith get ABs in LF until Thomas comes off the IL. When Thomas returns, he could platoon with Grichuk though Thomas would be in CF and McCarthy in LF vs RHP.
Have you checked out the stats for Thomas at Reno? Eeek, I just can’t picture him being on the roster again this season.
There’s a reason he got sent down and McCarthy got the CF job. Jake outplayed him and earned it.
What you say is true, but Thomas proved his chops in the post-season last year, and that experience is invaluable. So I fully expect him on the post-season roster especially for his defense.
I’d rather roll with Barrosa. He has good defense, and unlike Thomas, actually knows how to hit.
The Diamonbacks have fans? Since when?!
1998 at least, probably even before that.