D-Backs promote shortstop Perdomo

The Diamondbacks promoted top prospect Geraldo Perdomo on Saturday and placed Nick Ahmed on the injured list, a move that gives them the true shortstop they had lacked the first two games of the season as Ahmed was unavailable due to a knee injury.

The club had hoped Ahmed’s injury, which he has been dealing with for the better part of the past month, was going to clear itself up by Opening Day, but with his status still considered day-to-day, the Diamondbacks felt they couldn’t continue to play a man down and needed to find another option at short aside from Josh Rojas.

Rojas is expected to continue to get the majority of the starts at shortstop, but General Manager Mike Hazen felt that with Ahmed down the club had no other options.

“We didn’t want to be forced into that situation more than anything else,” Hazen said.

Hazen said Rojas’ struggles defensively on Friday night were not a big factor in the move.

The Diamondbacks continue to frame Ahmed’s return as being a sooner-than-later scenario. Manager Torey Lovullo said the team’s medical staff does not expect it to be an injury that lingers; that is, once Ahmed gets over it, he shouldn’t have a recurrence.

For now, however, his injured list placement was retroactive to March 31 — players can be backdated three days from the date of the transaction — meaning the soonest he could return is April 10.

Perdomo is regarded as a smooth defender at shortstop. One of the Diamondbacks’ top prospects, he is a switch hitter known for having excellent plate discipline and good bat-to-ball skills.

He reached High-A in 2019 — the last year there was a minor league season — and hit .301/.407/387 in 114 plate appearances. Prior to that, he posted a .268/.394/.357 line in Low-A.

Sticking in center

Another reason to bring up Perdomo is that the club is determined to keep Ketel Marte in center field, at least for the time being.

Hazen said the club wants Marte to “lock down” center field, and he seemed to suggest that the club believes Marte can better focus on his offensive production when he doesn’t have to bounce between positions.

“It’s never say never that we couldn’t do it in the future,” Hazen said. “I just think right now we’re going to keep some of the stability in the areas that we have it that’s performing and doing well … It’s not to say we won’t do something in the future, but that’s the way we’re looking at it now.”