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A.J. Puk Undergoes Elbow Surgery; Gabriel Moreno Diagnosed With Fractured Finger

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June 21: MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports that A.J. Puk underwent internal brace surgery and not a Tommy John procedure. Tommy Henry, however, will require Tommy John. Gilbert adds that Justin Martinez, another D-backs pitcher in need of Tommy John surgery, will have his operation performed next week.

June 20: Diamondbacks reliever A.J. Puk underwent elbow surgery today, manager Torey Lovullo tells the Burns & Gambo show. Puk had visited Dr. Neal ElAttrache after experiencing recurring soreness as he tried to work back from a flexor strain. Lovullo didn’t have specific details as to whether he required a full Tommy John ligament replacement or some kind of modified internal brace procedure. Puk’s season is over in either case. He’s likely to miss most or all of 2026 as well.

Additionally, the manager told Burns & Gambo that catcher Gabriel Moreno has a hairline fracture in his right index finger. The D-Backs placed Moreno on the 10-day injured list yesterday but had initially called it a hand contusion. He has evidently been playing through an undiagnosed fracture for some time. A return timetable is unclear but will be measured in “weeks, not days.” Topping it all off, Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports that left-hander Tommy Henry is also headed for season-ending elbow surgery.

The news on Puk is terrible but unsurprising. He has been plagued by elbow issues for the past two months. He’d undergone Tommy John surgery once before in his career. The 6’7″ southpaw required the procedure in 2018 when he was a member of the A’s farm system. He missed that season and was limited to 28 combined appearances between the minors and MLB the following year.

Acquired from the Marlins at the 2024 deadline, Puk has been one of the most dominant relievers in the sport since getting to Arizona. He recorded 43 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings after the trade last summer, working to a 1.32 ERA in the process. He had fanned 12 more hitters against two walks while collecting four saves in his first eight appearances this year. Aside from a terrible stint in Miami’s rotation early last season, he has been generally excellent since the A’s traded him to Miami over the 2022-23 offseason.

Depending on the nature of the surgery, there’s a decent chance this will end his time with the D-Backs. Puk has over five years of MLB service. He’ll be eligible for arbitration for the final time next offseason. He’d earn only a modest raise on this year’s $2.95MM salary, but a full ligament repair would make him a non-tender candidate. Players usually require 14-plus months to return from Tommy John surgery, and that would be Puk’s second such procedure. He’s likely to be out through next year’s All-Star Break even if he “only” needed the internal brace procedure, though the D-Backs would happily retain Puk for around $3MM if they felt they could get half the season from him.

The news on Puk comes a week after the news that Justin Martinez, the team’s other top reliever, also needs to go under the knife. Corbin Burnes and Jordan Montgomery have been Tommy John victims in the rotation. It’s difficult for any team to weather that kind of injury luck. Arizona has hovered around .500 despite having an elite offense because of their issues on the mound.

They’ll lose Moreno from that lineup for what seems like a decent chunk of time. There’s a significant drop off to light-hitting backup Jose Herrera. The Snakes selected Aramis Garcia to work off the bench behind Herrera. Adrian Del Castillo is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster. He’s a far better hitter than either Herrera or Garcia but isn’t regarded as a great defender. Del Castillo won’t be an option in the immediate future regardless, as he landed on the Triple-A injured list today with what is expected to be a minor back injury. Moreno will be the clear starting catcher once he’s healthy, but his injury could lead the Snakes to pursue a veteran #2 who can provide more punch than Herrera offers.

Henry, 27, is a former second-round pick who has a 5.07 ERA over 37 career appearances. He has an ERA above 8.00 over 11 starts in Triple-A Reno this year. This is his final minor league option season and he seems unlikely to stick on the 40-man roster throughout the offseason. His elbow injury occurred in Triple-A, so he’s on the minor league injured list. He’ll continue to count against the 40-man for now. The D-Backs may place him on the MLB 60-day IL or simply decide to release him (which would save them a bit of money relative to putting him on the MLB injured list) once they need another roster spot.

D-backs Place Gabriel Moreno On Injured List, Select Aramis Garcia

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The Diamondbacks announced Thursday that they’ve placed catcher Gabriel Moreno on the 10-day injured list due to a right hand contusion (retroactive to June 16) and selected the contract of fellow catcher Aramis Garcia from Triple-A Reno. Righty Christian Montes De Oca was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot for Garcia, who returns just nine days after being outrighted off the 40-man roster.

Moreno originally hurt his hand while trying to block a wild pitch earlier this month. He’s played just three games in 12 days since taking that errant pitch off his hand. Arizona was clearly hoping to avoid an IL stint, but things have reached a point where they’ll sit him down for the next week and get another catching option on the roster to complement Jose Herrera.

The 25-year-old Moreno is enjoying another solid all-around year. The former top prospect’s .270/.324/.414 batting line isn’t elite but is firmly above league average (106 wRC+). That’s big production from any catcher, a position that is regularly manned by below-average hitters, but it’s especially nice for a player with Moreno’s elite defensive grades. He draws plus marks for his framing, blocking and throwing alike. Since 2023, he ranks as the game’s third-best defender behind the plate, by measure of the Defensive Runs Saved metric, and the seventh-best in MLB according to Statcast. Because Moreno’s IL stint is backdated three days (the maximum allowed under MLB rules), he’ll be eligible to return a week from now.

As for Garcia, he’s a 32-year-old journeyman who was briefly up with the Snakes in the wake of the original injury to Moreno. He only appeared in one game, however, and didn’t take a plate appearance before being designated for assignment and passed through waivers. He’s played in parts of six big league seasons and carries a career .211/.248/.325 line in 327 trips to the plate during that time. He currently sports a .250/.399/.524 line in 38 Triple-A games and is a career .235/.306/.430 hitter in parts of seven seasons at that level.

Presumably, Garcia will see a bit more game action this time around. Herrera, who’ll serve as the primary catcher with Moreno down, has played eight games in 12 days since Moreno was originally banged up. It’s a heavy workload for any catcher but particularly a glove-first backup who’s hitting .171/.284/.244. Herrera is up to 101 plate appearances this year — already just 23 shy of his career-high in the majors, where he’s a lifetime .199/.279/.256 hitter.

The 60-day IL move for Montes De Oca was an inevitability. The 25-year-old righty landed on the injured list earlier this month due to elbow inflammation, but the D-backs announced five days ago that he was headed for surgery to repair a stress fracture in his lower back. That surgery was likely to take him out for most or all of the remaining season anyhow — a miserable turn of events for a young hurler who’d tossed 2 2/3 innings of scoreless ball in his MLB debut just days prior to landing on the injured list.

Diamondbacks Place Paul Sewald On 15-Day IL, Activate Gabriel Moreno

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The Diamondbacks announced this afternoon that they’ve placed right-hander Paul Sewald on the 15-day injured list with discomfort in his neck, retroactive to September 12. In a corresponding move, catcher Gabriel Moreno was activated from the 10-day injured list. The news comes as something of a surprise, particularly given the fact that Arizona announced that they’ve designated right-hander Dylan Floro for assignment to make room for Blake Walston on the club’s active roster less than two hours before making this second series of roster moves.

Sewald, 34, has pitched just once since September 2 and has struggled in recent weeks, with a 7.71 ERA and 4.89 FIP in seven innings of work since August 19. Those struggles when on the mound and his extended stretches without pitching at all could be explained to an extent by the injury, but if Sewald has been hurt it’s surprising that the Diamondbacks have kept him on the roster rather than opening a spot in their bullpen for a fresh arm. Sewald will be eligible to return before the end of the regular season due to the back-dated nature of his placement on the IL, although no timetable for his return has been announced at this point.

Acquired from the Mariners at the trade deadline last year, Sewald was among the most coveted closers in the game at the time with a 2.88 ERA and 3.34 FIP in 171 2/3 innings of work for the Mariners since he landed with the club prior to the 2021 season. Things haven’t gone well for him since moving to the desert, however, as he walked 12.5% of batters faced down the stretch with Arizona last year and has two blow-up outings in the World Series against the Rangers, although those rough appearances were preceded by eight dominant outings throughout the postseason prior to that. Headed into 2024, Sewald retained his role as closer for the Diamondbacks and looked dominant early in the year before eventually losing that distinction back in August after a brutal month of July where he surrendered 12 runs in ten innings of work across 12 appearances.

Given Sewald’s deep struggles in the second half this year and his apparent injury troubles, it’s not clear where he stands in the Arizona bullpen as the club looks ahead towards what they hope will be their second consecutive playoff push. A return to form in the postseason would be a huge boost for not only the Diamondbacks but also Sewald’s own fortunes, as the 34-year-old is scheduled to reach free agency this winter in a free agent class that figures to be fairly deep in terms of relievers with late-inning experience.

In Sewald’s place, Moreno returns to the roster a bit earlier than expected. The youngster was described earlier this weekend as “very close” to returning alongside Lourdes Gurriel Jr. but seemed likely to be targeting a return to action later this week. With the 24-year-old now seemingly ready to step back into his regular role behind the plate, the Diamondbacks will now get to utilize his two-way talent rather than having to choose between a strong defender with lackluster hitting ability in Jose Herrera and an impressive bat with defensive question marks behind the plate in Adrian Del Castillo. Moreno was in the midst of a fine season prior to his injury, slashing .262/.344/.385 slash line with a 105 wRC+ in 314 trips to the plate this year.

Diamondbacks Notes: Moreno, Gurriel, Thomas, Lawlar

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After a shocking run to the World Series last October, the Diamondbacks once again find themselves inching towards the playoffs with a 1.5-game lead over the Braves and Mets in the AL Wild Card race. Arizona is in the second of three spots, leaving Atlanta and New York in a tie for the third spot. While there’s still room for things to change, Fangraphs gives the Snakes a strong 86.4% chance of making the postseason for the second consecutive year when all is said and done. Even with those solid odds, the club will surely want all the help it can get to secure its positioning and head into the playoffs strong.

Fortunately, reinforcements are on the way as manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including Alex Weiner of AZSports) that both catcher Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. are “very close” to being activated from the injured list. The duo were scheduled to play in a game at the club’s Spring Training complex today where Moreno was set to both hit and catch while Gurriel would hit without playing the field. That leaves Moreno, who has been out for six weeks due to a groin strain, a bit closer to playing in the majors than Gurriel, who’s been out two weeks now with a strained calf.

Moreno, 24, is in his second season with the Diamondbacks after being acquired from the Blue Jays alongside Gurriel in the Daulton Varsho trade prior to the 2023 campaign. Moreno has established himself well as a solid two-way catcher and has posted a .262/.344/.385 slash line with a 105 wRC+ while playing excellent defense behind the plate. That two-way talent has left the Snakes missing Moreno dearly, as they’ve utilized a combination of the light-hitting but defensively gifted Jose Herrera alongside youngster Adrian Del Castillo, who sports a 138 wRC+ but questionable defense behind the plate.

As for Gurriel, the 30-year-old has hit .274/.316/.428 with a 105 wRC+ that’s identical to not only Moreno’s own figure from this year but also the production Gurriel posted in his first season with Arizona last year. Fortunately for Arizona, however, Gurriel’s absence hasn’t been felt as much as may have been initially expected due to an offensive explosion on the part of Pavin Smith, who has slashed an incredible .286/.385/.905 with four home runs in nine games since taking over for Gurriel in left field alongside Randal Grichuk. While Smith’s 72-homer pace is obviously not sustainable long-term, his hot streak has allowed the club to post MLB’s best offense by wRC+ (138) in September despite losing a key cog in their lineup for whom they didn’t have an obvious replacement at the ready.

Gurriel and Moreno aren’t the only two players who could be called upon to help the Diamondbacks headed into the postseason, however. According to a conversation between GM Mike Hazen and MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert, outfielder Alek Thomas and top infield prospect Jordan Lawlar are both regarded as “possible” contributors down the stretch and into the postseason. Thomas was optioned to the minors back in August and subsequently suffered an oblique strain at Triple-A but, per Gilbert, is nearly ready to return to action. Thomas has had another disappointing season offensively with a .191/.248/.362 slash line in 32 games at the big league level, but he offers excellent defense in all three outfield spots that could make him an asset in a bench role.

Lawlar, meanwhile, made it into just 13 games before the calendar flipped to September this year between thumb surgery and a hamstring strain but finally made it back into Triple-A earlier this week. Per Gilbert, Lawlar is expected to play winter ball this offseason to make up for the reps he lost to injury this year, but it’s not hard to imagine the club preferring the 22-year-old to their other bench infield options like Luis Guillorme and Kevin Newman headed into the postseason. Lawlar was similarly included on the club’s postseason roster last year, when he appeared in three games and went 0-for-1 with a walk and a run scored.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. To Undergo MRI On Left Calf

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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.

Diamondbacks Notes: Kelly, Moreno

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Merrill Kelly’s last big league pitching appearance was on April 15, as the Diamondbacks right-hander looked terrific in his first four starts before being sidelined by a right shoulder strain.  After almost four months on the shelf, Kelly now looks to be nearing a return, with manager Torey Lovullo hinting to reporters (including the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro) that Kelly will be reinstated from the 60-day injured list in time to start on Sunday when the D’Backs host the Phillies.

It won’t be official until Kelly gets through a bullpen session slated for Friday, but as Lovullo put it, “you guys can read between the lines” about the team’s plans.  “You get to a certain pitch count…when things get beyond three innings [in rehab starts], it gets real.  We like when it gets in that 80-pitch range.  We fire downrange when we’ve gotten into that spot before.  So stay tuned.”

Kelly already passed the three-inning threshold in his first minor league rehab assignment last Tuesday, when he threw 62 pitches over four innings with the high-A Everett affiliate.  Given both his long layoff and the fact that he has faced only A-ball competition, it is a little surprising that this will apparently be Kelly’s only rehab outing, but Lovullo said that “reports were really good” and that Kelly “did exactly what we wanted him to do.”  The manager noted that Kelly would be on something of a limited pitch count on Sunday, in the range of 75-80 pitches as the D’Backs ease him into action.

Now in his sixth season with Arizona, Kelly has become a rotation stalwart for the Snakes, posting a 3.75 ERA over his 775 1/3 regular-season innings.  The righty’s first MLB season (in 2019) saw him post 183 1/3 innings, and he then averaged 179 frames over the 2021-23 seasons, as Kelly missed a couple of months in that stretch with some relatively minor injuries but was otherwise a durable arm.  He gained more national attention during the Diamondbacks’ run to the NL pennant last fall, posting a 2.25 ERA in 24 playoff innings.

With Kelly on the verge of returning and Eduardo Rodriguez making his season debut earlier this week, the D’Backs will finally have their first-choice starting rotation intact for the first time all season.  Ironically, this reinforced rotation comes just as the team has taken a big blow behind the plate, as Gabriel Moreno was placed on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday with a left adductor strain.

Moreno will miss “several weeks” recovering, Lovullo told Arizona Sports (video link), and a more solid timeline could be known once the catcher “gets some second opinions” and a broader examination of his MRI results.  While Lovullo didn’t give any indication that Moreno’s injury could end his season, such a possibility can’t be ruled out simply due to the calendar and the fact that Moreno looks to be out until September at the earliest.  Any kind of setback could shut Moreno down entirely for the remainder of the 2024 campaign, and perhaps into whatever postseason activity could await the Diamondbacks.

The former star prospect has continued to impress in his second full Major League season, hitting .262/.344/.385 with five home runs over 314 plate appearances while delivering impressive defense.  There wouldn’t have been an easy way for the D’Backs to replace Moreno even if he’d gotten hurt before the trade deadline, but if he is looking at an extended absence, the pickings are slim for the Snakes to bolster the catching ranks.  Jose Herrera and rookie Adrian Del Castillo comprise Arizona’s catching corps, but Andrew Knizner was just claimed off waivers from the Rangers today to give the Snakes a bit more experienced depth behind the plate.

Diamondbacks Select Adrian Del Castillo

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2:30pm: The Diamondbacks have officially announced these moves and others. Del Castillo has been selected and Moreno has been placed on the IL with a strained left adductor. They also reinstated left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez from the 60-day IL, a move that was reported last week. To activate Rodriguez, the club optioned right-hander Humberto Castellanos and transferred righty Bryce Jarvis to the 60-day IL. It was also reported last week that Jarvis is unlikely to return this year due to his sprained right elbow.

12:40pm: The Diamondbacks are going to place catcher Gabriel Moreno on the 10-day injured list with a groin injury, per John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM on X. Fellow backstop Adrian Del Castillo will have his contract selected to take Moreno’s place on the roster. The Snakes already had a 40-man vacancy so no further moves will be required.

Moreno came up limping during yesterday’s game while trying to run out a ground ball. He was removed from the contest with what the team described as a strained left groin. It’s still unclear how long he is expected to be out of action but it’s a rough blow for the Diamondbacks regardless. Moreno is slashing .262/.344/.385 this year for a 107 wRC+ with strong defensive grades as well. FanGraphs considers him to have been worth 2.4 wins above replacement in 86 games.

It’s the second IL stint of the year for Moreno, who also missed some time at the end of June due to a sprained left thumb. Prior to that, he had been sharing the catching duties with Tucker Barnhart, with José Herrera called up to pair with Barnhart in Moreno’s absence. Once Moreno was ready to return in early July, the club decided to keep Herrera around, with Barnhart designated for assignment and eventually released.

That left the Diamondbacks with Moreno and Herrera as the only two backstops on the 40-man roster. Now that Moreno is heading to the IL again, they need to reach into their non-roster depth, which gets Del Castillo up to the majors for the first time.

Now 24 years old, Del Castillo was selected with a competitive balance pick in 2021, going 67th overall in that year’s draft. Baseball America ranked him #29 in Arizona’s system coming into this year but he has launched himself up to #16 in their most recent update. He was #36 at FanGraphs earlier in the year.

BA considers him subpar defensively but strong at the plate, which has shown up at times during his minor league career. That’s especially true here in 2024, which is likely why he earned such a notable bump in the BA rankings. In 100 Triple-A games this year, he has 24 home runs, an 11.5% walk rate and a 16.8% strikeout rate. His .319/.403/.608 batting line translates into a 143 wRC+ even in the hitter-friendly environs of the Pacific Coast League.

If he can bring even a small portion of that production up to the big leagues with him, it will go a long way towards compensating for the loss of Moreno. Herrera has hit just .229/.308/.286 this year for a 72 wRC+ with his glovework graded as near league average. Perhaps Del Castillo can outperform him at the plate but even top prospects can struggle when first exposed to the majors. The club will also have to consider that Herrera has a head start on Del Castillo in terms of building relationships with the pitching staff.

The Snakes are currently 61-52 and essentially in a three-way tie for the National League Wild Card spots with Atlanta and San Diego. Atlanta is 60-51 and percentage points ahead of the two other clubs, who are each 61-52. The Mets are just 1.5 games back of that group and five other clubs are just behind New York. With that crowded playoff race, the importance of every game will be magnified going forward. The catching situation will likely evolve in the coming weeks, depending on how much time Moreno needs to miss and how Del Castillo performs in his first taste of the majors. Herrera is in his final option year and will be out of options in 2025.

Diamondbacks Place Jordan Montgomery On Injured List

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The D-Backs shook a few things up in advance of their series with the Dodgers. Arizona reinstated catcher Gabriel Moreno from the 10-day injured list and designated backup Tucker Barnhart for assignment. (Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reported those forthcoming moves over the weekend.)  The Snakes placed starter Jordan Montgomery on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 29, on account of right knee inflammation. Arizona also optioned young infielder Blaze Alexander to Triple-A Reno. Center fielder Alek Thomas is back from the 10-day IL, while the D-Backs recalled righty Gavin Hollowell to take a spot in the bullpen.

Montgomery has had a nightmarish season. The veteran southpaw agreed to terms on a $25MM pillow contract just before Opening Day. As with fellow late signee Blake Snell, he has had significant struggles with that abbreviated ramp-up. Montgomery agreed to head to Reno for a few starts as a tune-up. He was recalled in mid-April but hasn’t found anything close to his typical form.

Over 13 starts, Montgomery carries a 6.03 ERA in 65 2/3 innings. He’s striking out a well below-average 15.1% of opposing hitters. Montgomery had punched out more than 21% of batters faced in each of the previous three seasons. He allowed fewer than four earned runs per nine in each year while combining for a 3.48 ERA over 94 starts. The average velocity on his sinker is down from its customary 93 MPH range to 91.7 MPH.

It’s impossible to know how much of Montgomery’s struggles are attributable to the unconventional start to the season. It seems fair to presume that has played some role. Whatever the primary cause, Montgomery hasn’t provided anything close to the kind of production Arizona envisioned. The D-Backs hoped he’d step in as a mid-rotation replacement after Eduardo Rodriguez suffered a Spring Training lat strain. Instead, he’s been arguably the weakest point in a starting staff that remains the team’s biggest question mark.

Arizona recently welcomed Zac Gallen back from the injured list. They’re still without Rodriguez and Merrill Kelly. Righty Brandon Pfaadt has been solid, but the D-Backs haven’t gotten much out of Slade Cecconi and Ryne Nelson. They’ll need to find a fifth starter this week, as Arizona doesn’t have another off day until the All-Star Break. That might be righty Cristian Mena. Alex Weiner of AZ Sports tweets that Mena is with the big league club in Los Angeles, though he’s not yet on the roster. Acquired from the White Sox for Dominic Fletcher over the winter, the 21-year-old Mena has a 4.90 ERA with a 24.4% strikeout rate in 16 Triple-A starts. Joe Mantiply will kick off a bullpen game tonight; Montgomery had been slated to start tomorrow’s contest.

On the position player side, Moreno and Thomas draw back into the lineup. The former had a minimal IL stay with a thumb sprain. He’ll return to his role as the primary catcher. Barnhart’s DFA means the D-Backs will stick with José Herrera in the #2 catching role. Thomas has missed the bulk of the season because of a hamstring strain. He played in only four games before going down. That pushed Corbin Carroll into center field. Carroll should move back to right field, which could cut into the playing time for Jake McCarthy and Randal Grichuk.

It pushes Alexander off the MLB roster for the time being. The 25-year-old logged a good chunk of playing time at shortstop while Geraldo Perdomo was on the shelf. Upon Perdomo’s return, manager Torey Lovullo suggested he’d get Alexander more playing time at third base while cutting into Eugenio Suárez’s workload. Alexander got regular run for about two weeks but fell into a slump, hitting .138 without an extra-base knock in 33 plate appearances. Suárez has started five of the past six games at the hot corner. With Kevin Newman playing reasonably well as a utility option who cannot be optioned, the D-Backs send Alexander back to Reno for more consistent playing time.

Diamondbacks To Designate Tucker Barnhart For Assignment

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The Diamondbacks are designating catcher Tucker Barnhart for assignment, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Piecoro indicates that the move will clear space on the club’s roster for Gabriel Moreno to be activated from the injured list prior to the club’s next game against the Dodgers on Tuesday.

Barnhart, 33, made Arizona’s Opening Day roster as the primary backup to Moreno over Jose Herrera. The veteran has struggled mightily this year, however, slashing just .165/.283/.190 in 94 trips to the plate with the Snakes this season. That line includes a surprisingly strong 13.8% walk rate, but those decent on-base skills are outweighed by his massive 33% strikeout rate and complete lack of power (as evidenced by an ISO of just .025). When Moreno went on the IL with a sprained thumb, Herrera was called up to the big leagues to join Barnhart in the catching tandem, and evidently the club has decided that they’d prefer to leave the 27-year-old in the backup role once Moreno returns from the injured list on Tuesday.

The veteran backstop has struggled to be productive at the plate throughout the majority of his career, as evidenced by a career 78 wRC+ and a 68 wRC+ over the past five seasons. Barnhart has generally made up for that lack of offensive production with a strong glove behind the plate, even winning two Gold Glove awards during his tenure with the Reds. That aspect of his game has dried up in recent years, however. After regressing defensively during his time with the Cubs last year, Barnhart was below average by all three of Statcast’s defensive metrics for catchers: Blocks Above Average, CS Above Average, and Framing. Given that reality, it’s easy to see why Arizona would turn to Herrera, who is similarly limited on offense but appears to be a superior defender as compared to Barnhart at this stage of his career.

Taking Barnhart’s place on the roster will be Moreno, who last suited up for the Dbacks on June 21 and has been nursing a thumb sprain since then. The 24-year-old youngster is in his second season with Arizona after coming over alongside Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the Daulton Varsho trade during the 2022-23 offseason. Moreno has performed solidly behind the plate in 172 games with the Diamondbacks, slashing .265/.330/.385 with a roughly league average 97 wRC+ and strong grades for his defense at catcher.

Once Barnhart’s DFA becomes official, the Diamondbacks will have seven days to either work out a trade involving the veteran or attempt to pass him through waivers. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, Arizona could attempt to outright him to the minor leagues as a non-roster depth option, but the 11-year MLB veteran has more than enough service time to reject such an assignment and test free agency.

Diamondbacks Place Gabriel Moreno On 10-Day Injured List

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The Diamondbacks announced that catcher Gabriel Moreno has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a sprained left thumb.  Jose Herrera has been called up from Triple-A, and Herrera with team with Tucker Barnhart as Arizona’s catching combo until Moreno has recovered.

Moreno’s injury took place in last night’s game, as the backstop’s glove hand was hit by a Cristian Pache foul ball in the third inning.  Moreno tried to stay in the game but the discomfort eventually forced him to make an early exit in the sixth frame.  D’Backs manager Torey Lovullo told media (including Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports) after the game that x-rays were negative on Moreno’s thumb, so the catcher at least avoided a more serious structural injury that would’ve cost him more time or even possibly threatened his season.

Heralded as one of baseball’s top prospects during his time in the Blue Jays’ farm system, Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. were acquired by the D’Backs in exchange for Daulton Varsho during the 2022-23 offseason.  Moreno’s first full season saw him win a Gold Glove, hit .284/.339/.408 in 380 plate appearances, and then excel in Arizona’s playoff run to the NL pennant, seemingly cementing his place as one of the sport’s up and coming stars.

However, the sophomore slump seems to have bitten Moreno in his follow-up campaign, as he has hit only .230/.313/.346 with three homers over 217 PA.  A .261 BABIP hasn’t helped his efforts, though Moreno isn’t making much hard contact.  On the plus side, his strikeout and walk rates are both well above average, and Moreno’s defense remains remains elite.

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