D-Backs playing it safe with Goldschmidt
Injured slugger sits out fourth straight game
LOS ANGELES – For the fourth consecutive game, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt was not in the Diamondbacks’ starting lineup. As alarming as it might sound, manager Torey Lovullo insists he and the club are erring on the side of caution, and they fully expect Goldschmidt to return to action soon without limitations.
“I just thought given all the sets of circumstances, knowing there was a day off tomorrow, it made a lot of sense to rest him one more day and see where that lands us on Friday,” Lovullo said. “The anticipation is to have him available.”
Goldschmidt, the club’s MVP-caliber slugger, had been playing through elbow tightness for about a week before taking what Lovullo said was a scheduled day off on Sunday. When the discomfort persisted Monday, Goldschmidt returned to Phoenix that night to undergo an MRI on his sore right elbow the next morning.
Both he and the team said the scan revealed no structural damage. During his visit with team physician Dr. Gary Waslewski, Goldschmidt also received a cortisone injection.
Prior to Tuesday’s game, Lovullo said Goldschmidt was available off the bench. But Lovullo said after the game that Goldschmidt felt more soreness in the elbow, perhaps the result of the cortisone shot.
Players don’t normally play on the same day they receive such shots. They often take multiple days off. But Lovullo said Waslewski cleared Goldschmidt to play as soon as Tuesday night.
“What I learned yesterday is that there are often cortisone shots given to athletes in different sports the day of games and they play, or (administered) at halftime of games and they continue playing,” Lovullo said.
Goldschmidt did not taking batting practice on the field on Wednesday but said he was planning to take swings in an indoor cage at some point to gauge his availability to pinch hit.
“I will never err on the side of putting somebody in harm’s way,” Lovullo said. “It’s too important to me. Paul is too important to me and this organization. I know he wants to play, and I’m pulling him back right now because I think it’s the smartest thing for him and this organization.
“This is my decision to give him the rest where he can go full throttle for the remainder of the season.”
Goldschmidt said the scans revealed just inflammation. As to what’s causing it in the first place, Goldschmidt said he asked the medical staff that very question but never really got a definitive answer.
“They said it can happen,” Goldschmidt said.
“The joint back there can get irritated and then the inflammation comes to try to protect it. That was a question I asked, but nobody really had anything because there wasn’t any one swing or one throw or even one motion. Like I could do something 10 times and it would flare up just once.”
Assuming he doesn’t play on Wednesday night and counting Thursday’s off day, Goldschmidt would have five full days of rest leading up to Friday’s series opener against the San Diego Padres at Chase Field.
“I definitely want to play, but also my mindset is what’s going to best for the team,” Goldschmidt said. “I don’t want to be selfish. I want to play, of course, but I understand that rest is sometimes good when there’s injuries. As far as having a few days off, I understand. I want it to be healed.”
Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or nick.piecoro@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.