OF Marte out with strained hamstring
The Diamondbacks placed center fielder Ketel Marte on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain, a devastating blow for a club that had been riding his hot bat during the first week of the season.
Marte suffered the injury running to first base on a ground ball on
Wednesday night, grabbing at his right leg just before reaching the bag in the sixth inning.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo sounded a hopeful tone after the game, describing the injury as “cramping,” though he cautioned that the diagnosis was not definitive.
In placing Marte on the injured list, the club listed the injury as a strain, though the extent of the injury is not yet clear.
Marte is scheduled to undergo an MRI exam in Phoenix on Friday, at which point the club hopes to gain clarity on the severity.
Lovullo said the club was not planning to put Marte on the injured list on Thursday as of mid-morning but had a change of heart as the discomfort lingered.
“(Marte) wasn’t progressing the way we wanted,” Lovullo said, at which point the team sent him to be evaluated by a Colorado Rockies team physician.
Any kind of absence is crushing for the Diamondbacks. Through the first six games of the season, Marte was 12 for 26 (.462) with four doubles and two home runs. After a down season last year, Marte was again looking like the dangerous, power threat he was in 2019.
Infielder/outfielder Andrew Young was added to the roster in a corresponding move, but with Marte out, Tim Locastro is the club’s only player with recent experience in center field. While it seems likely the club will make another move to add more of a true center fielder, Lovullo mentioned Pavin Smith as a player who could slide over to center.
Calhoun on deck
Right fielder Kole Calhoun, who is working his way back from meniscus surgery last month, took four at-bats in an intrasquad game on Wednesday in Arizona, and Lovullo seemed to indicate that Calhoun could be very close to a return, not ruling out the possibility of him being in the lineup for Friday night’s home opener.
Calhoun has tested his knee in a variety of ways and has been hitting the ball hard, Lovullo said.
“The quality of at-bat has been good from what I’ve been reading (in internal reports) and what Kole has been telling me,” Lovullo said.
“It’s impossible to get hits every single time, but he’s getting base hits. He’s hitting the ball. He’s getting on base.”
Calhoun is another player whom Lovullo said could conceivably play center field in Marte's absence. Calhoun has played six games — and a total of 15 innings — in center field in his career. He has never started there.
Shortstop Nick Ahmed (knee) got upwards of 10 at-bats on Wednesday and also is nearing a return, though he is not eligible to return until Saturday.
Right-hander Zac Gallen threw 67 pitches in his outing, working in all of his pitches and coming away feeling good.
He could be aiming for a return early next week.
Short hop
● First-base coach Dave McKay is not expected to rejoin the team on Friday, as the club had hoped last month.
McKay suffered injuries during a fall in the dugout at Scottsdale Stadium on March 8 and needed surgery. “He’s slowly recovering,” Lovullo said.