The Diamondbacks now have six players on the 40-man roster who are out with Tommy John surgeries or revisions: Puk, Henry, Justin Martinez, Corbin Burnes, Jordan Montgomery and Blake Walston. Cristian Mena (shoulder), Kendall Graveman (hip) and Christian Montes De Oca (back) are also down with injuries.<\/p>\n
Losing the ace of the staff in Burnes, two closer options in Puk and Martinez, a veteran bounce-back candidate in Montgomery and several younger arms as pitching depth is extreme. Puk and Martinez already underwent Tommy John surgery, so Martinez is having a revision with an internal brace. Puk\u2019s exact requirements are still to be determined, but a brace instead of a ligament replacement would cut down on recovery time. These injuries will impact the 2026 D-backs, as well.<\/p>\n
The only other season in Diamondbacks history that compares in terms of time missed for Tommy John surgeries was 2014. Patrick Corbin, Daniel Hudson, Matt Reynolds, David Hernandez and Bronson Arroyo spent all of or most of the season on the IL recovering from the procedure. The 2014 D-backs \u2014 whose injury problems were broader than five pitchers \u2014 finished with 63 wins, and the club went through drastic changes (replacing manager Kirk Gibson with Chip Hale and bringing in Dave Stewart as general manager).<\/p>\n
The current squad has managed to teeter around .500 all year, remaining competitive for a Wild Card spot but in need of a run to push up into that top six. The offense is amongst the best in MLB, but it is hard to string wins together when the pitching has been so volatile.<\/p>\n
There are many reasons why Arizona\u2019s pitching staff has an unsightly 4.85 ERA. The rotation has had its ups and downs, and underperformance from key bullpen pieces has hurt the unit\u2019s depth. Fielding issues have not helped, although the defense has improved. But it is hard to see the Diamondbacks struggle to hold leads and not think of what Martinez and Puk could do for them.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aJ-Mart and A.J. going down is not exactly what we envisioned when we felt we had a good bullpen,\u201d general manager Mike Hazen told Arizona Sports\u2019 Wolf & Luke on Wednesday. \u201cBut that\u2019s an excuse and injuries are no excuse in this job. Zero. Everyone has them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not the only team,\u201d Lovullo said last weekend. \u201cWe are definitely not the only team, and I don\u2019t want anybody to feel sorry for us. We don\u2019t live in that space.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Diamondbacks have been beat up by the current pitching injury epidemic in Major League Baseball. The Los Angeles Dodgers have 12 pitchers on the 60-day IL, including big-name free agent additions Roki Sasaki and Blake Snell. Even with a massive payroll (which equips them better to handle injuries than a mid-market club like the Diamondbacks), that\u2019s a strain. The Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians have seven pitchers on the 60-day IL each.<\/p>\n
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