Arizona Diamondbacks Latest Injury News

The Arizona Diamondbacks have a litany of injured pitchers, some of whom are out for the year, one who is making his return this weekend, and others who never pitched this season. Luckily, the team has been rather healthy from a position player perspective as the only one recently was Evan Longoria and he just returned this past Monday. This is a crucial time for the D-backs to stay healthy as they will need contributions from everyone if they hope to make the playoffs. They're in a dogfight with the rest of the National League for three Wild Card spots. All injury updates are provided by the MLB and its reporters.

Zach Davies has been on the Injured List since July 19th owing to lower back inflammation. This was the day after he gave up nine runs to the Atlanta Braves in just 3.2 innings. Perhaps, that was the reason why. He almost rejoined the team last Sunday had the team played that day. However, due to Hurricane Hilary, the game got re-scheduled and the D-backs decided to give him another start in the minor leagues. Davies appeared in three games and three starts with the Reno Aces during his rehab assignment.

The most recent of which was this past Sunday when he pitched six innings and gave up just seven hits, three runs, three walks, and struck out two in a very hitter-friendly environment. Manager Torey Lovullo and the Diamondbacks announced earlier this week that Zach Davies will be starting this Saturday in a must-win game against the Cincinnati Reds on the Corbin Carroll bobblehead giveaway day. During the season, Davies has a 7.38 ERA over 12 starts and 57.1 innings with 27 walks to 46 strikeouts. The D-backs will be counting on Davies to provide some important innings to help win them some games.

Tommy Henry was having a breakout season in his second go-about of the big leagues. Over 17 games and 16 starts, Henry was 5-4 with a 4.15 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 89 innings. He was performing as a solid number-four starter for a rotation that badly needed reliability. However, during his last start against the Seattle Mariners on July 28th, Henry felt discomfort in his elbow area. The team says that there isn't any harm done to the elbow and have classified it as left elbow inflammation.

There was hope that Henry would return in early September, but that was squashed over the weekend when the team placed him on the 60-day IL and selected the contract of Nabil Crismatt. Henry wouldn't be eligible to return until the final week of the season. That will not give him enough time to build up to a starting role, so if he does miraculously return, it will be out of the bullpen. However, whenever a pitcher's elbow is of concern, the safest route is to hold them out until you have zero qualms about the issue.

Corbin Martin was in the midst of a strong Spring Training as he fought for a spot in the Diamondbacks bullpen. Then, in the middle of the game on March 15th, he tore his right lat tendon. This would require surgery that ended his season. He's begun a throwing program, but there's likely not enough time for him to return in a meaningful way, however, there's always hope. Martin has come back from Tommy John and multiple other injuries and is an easy guy to root for. The D-backs certainly could use him in the pen.

Mark Melancon began a throwing program a few months ago and now is throwing two bullpen sessions a week while recovering from a subscapularis strain. Melancon is finishing out the second year of his two-year/14 million dollar deal. He has yet to appear in a game at all this season. The elder closer might miss the whole season at this rate.

Drey Jameson was having a strong rookie season out of the bullpen for the Diamondbacks when he got diagnosed with a sprained UCL and elbow inflammation. Jameson had several options and chose, at least for now, to go with rest and rehabilitation to see if he could make it back this year. Jameson began a plyometrics program for his arm and recently began a throwing program. The team has not completely ruled out the possibility of a late season return. He has a 3.32 ERA and a 3-1 record over 15 games, three starts, and 40.2 innings with 18 walks and 37 strikeouts.

If he ultimately requires surgery, he would of course miss all of 2024. He can delay the surgery however until October and still make it back for spring training 2025. So there really is nothing to lose by trying the rehabilitation route first to see how it goes. Surgery back in July or surgery in October is the same result, missing 2024. The main risk is if he forgoes surgery only to find out he'd still need it sometime next spring, then he would miss a large portion of 2025 as well.

Austin Adams was having a good season when he got hit by a comebacker on August 1st that broke his ankle. Rather, it was fractured, but he was immediately ruled out for the rest of the season. He's on the 60-day IL and could be non-tendered this off-season. His season ends with a 5.71 ERA over 24 games and 17.1 innings with 22 strikeouts and eight walks. The ERA isn't pretty but his FIP was just 3.73 as he had a few poor outings that contributed to the high ERA.