D-Backs’ Escobar plays third, provides laughs

SAN DIEGO – A day after departing Minnesota with mixed emotions, infielder Eduardo Escobar joined his new Diamondbacks teammates at Petco Park, bringing his trademark energy and positive attitude to the visitors’ clubhouse.

Escobar called it a “bad moment” to find out he’d been traded away from the Minnesota Twins, his team for parts of seven seasons.

“It’s hard when you lose your best friends, but coming here today, seeing these people right here, it’s happy to me and it’s important to me,” Escobar said. “There are really good guys here, great clubhouse here, great people here. I love it, I love it.”

The Diamondbacks are hoping his offensive production and well-rounded game arrives with him in due course. Manager Torey Lovullo had Escobar hitting in the fifth spot in the lineup and playing third base for his debut on Saturday, and he said Escobar will get the bulk of the playing time at third – and likely hit in that area of the lineup – for the foreseeable future.

Some of Escobar’s personality came out during a session with reporters before Saturday’s game. A day earlier, Escobar’s winter ball teammate, infielder Ildemaro Vargas, spilled the beans about Escobar’s fear of cats. Escobar didn’t deny it.

“One million percent I’m afraid of cats,” he said. “Since I was a little kid in Venezuela, I’ll see a cat and start running. I’m so nervous. I don’t like to see a cat.”

It’s not too unusual for a stray cat to find its way into a baseball stadium and interrupt play, and Escobar said that happened once while he was playing in winter ball.

“I’m playing shortstop and saw one cat on the left-field line,” he said. “I saw the cat, but I’m walking to second base because I’m afraid. But the manager saw me and said, ‘Where are you going?’ ‘I’m running because this cat is coming to me.’ I don’t like cats.”

Informed that the Diamondbacks’ mascot, Baxter, is a cat, Escobar smiled.

“That’s different!” he said. “It’s a little different.”

Lamb update

Third baseman Jake Lamb does not appear to have suffered any structural damage to his left shoulder, Lovullo said, adding that the club is planning to have Lamb’s MRI read by a second doctor to be sure.

“It’s a way for us to touch all the bases and make sure before we push Jake to the next level and make sure nothing structurally is wrong with it,” Lovullo said. “We strongly believe he’s fine, but we want to confirm that.”

As for how long Lamb might be out, Lovullo said it’s too early to tell because of the amount of “trauma and discomfort” in the shoulder area.

“It’s hard to predict right now,” Lovullo said. “He’s pretty uncomfortable.’’