Short hops
CHICAGO — When Diamondbacks right-hander Brandon McCarthy noticed reporters gathering behind him, he turned to teammates and said jokingly, “That’s cool. I’ve got this one memorized.”
McCarthy was placed on the disabled list Saturday with right-shoulder inflammation, the fifth consecutive year he’s landed on the DL with shoulder problems at roughly this time of year.
He said he first felt the shoulder issue creeping up two starts ago, before facing the Padres, and it clearly affected him in his start on Thursday in Texas, where his stuff was down and he was hammered for six runs in 22⁄ against the Rangers.
To replace McCarthy on the roster, the Diamondbacks recalled right-hander Randall Delgado from Triple-A Reno to work out of the bullpen. The club is expected to recall left-hander Tyler Skaggs from Reno on Tuesday to take McCarthy’s place in the rotation.
McCarthy said he will undergo an MRI on Monday to determine if he again has a stress fracture in his right shoulder, an injury that has popped up in late May and early June in each of the last four seasons.
Hedoesn’t know whyit happens, but he said his frustration is mitigated by his familiarity with the injury.
“I kind of know the road at least,” he said. “That helps some. But the fact that I can’t still figure out how to get around it or what the hell it is, that’s kind of the difficult part.”
If this injury turns out to be the same as the others, then McCarthy won’t throw for 10 days before starting to build his arm strength back up, and after a rehab start or two he could be ready to return in about four or five weeks. But he’s hoping that since he didn’t try to push through the injury this time and opted to be more proactive about going on the DL, then he might be able to return sooner.
“One thing I have learned with this is that it’s better to take care of this when it needs to be taken care of than trying to come back a few days too early and then it’ll just happen again in a few weeks,” McCarthy said. “As long as I get rid of it and I’m good to go and it’ll just kind of stay that way.”
In 662⁄ innings, McCarthy has a 5.00 ERA with 10 walks and 39 strikeouts. He had recently gotten back on track, bouncing back from a brutal April (7.48 ERA) with a solid May (3.23).
Right-hander Daniel Hudson will pitch for Double-A Mobile on Tuesday and again on June 10, manager Kirk Gibson said, after which he will be re-evaluated. “The best-case, earliest scenario with those starts would probably be the middle of June,” Gibson said of a return. “But we kind of take it (on a progression), I guess.”
» Second baseman Aaron Hill (broken left hand) took 40 swings hitting off a tee on Saturday, and Gibson said that Hill might face live pitching next weekend.
» Third baseman Eric Chavez has a “minor tear” in his right oblique, Gibson said, and the best-case scenario for his return is in about three weeks.
» Closer J.J. Putz (elbow strain) will throw flat-ground sessions this week before possibly throwing off a mound next weekend.