Torey Lovullo "Holding his Breath" with D-backs Injuries

The Skipper gives injury rundown and explains his precautionary moves

Apr 20, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zac Gallen (23) / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

The D-backs take on the Padres tonight at Chase Field, first pitch is 6:40 P.M. Slade Cecconi will start for the D-backs and Dylan Cease will get the ball for the Padres. Be sure to check out our detailed pitching matchup preview from earlier today.

The Diamondbacks have been hit by a slew of major injuries already in the 2024 season. It seems like every other day there is another major news update, injury to report, or setback to a player trying to return from the injured list.

Partly in response to all the injuries Torey Lovullo has taken a series of precautionary moves to protect his starting pitchers. He scratched Jordan Montgomery after Tuesday's bee swarm delay and had him start Wednesday instead. He skipped Zac Gallen's turn in the rotation after the ace of the staff had to come out of a game in Seattle on April 27th with a hamstring cramp.

In response to questions about the precautionary moves and shakeups a somewhat exasperated Lovullo made clear his motivations.

"Forgive me for feeling a little bit shell shocked every time somebody walks off the mound and they're not looking right that there's been the potential for a long time injury. I'm holding my breath right now"

It's expected that Gallen will start on Tuesday but even today the rotation order was thrown somewhat into doubt as Lovullo said there would be a "line change" come next Tuesday in Cincinnati.

Health Updates:

Kyle Nelson will have surgery for Neurogenic Thoracic Outlet Syndrome on May 6th with Dr. Gregory Pearl in Texas. Nelson is expected to miss the rest of the 2024 season but Lovullo said he expects Nelson to be ready for spring training 2025

Alek Thomas (Hamstring Strain) is with the Triple-A Reno affiliate for tonight's game. He will DH tonight, play the outfield on Saturday, and DH again on Sunday. If all goes well he could rejoin the team on Tuesday in Cincinnati.

Paul Sewald will pitch in an extended spring training game on Saturday at Salt River Fields. The team will read and react from there to make sure he's ok. If there are no issues he could be activated Tuesday as well.

Merrill Kelly (Right Shoulder Strain) was moved to the 60-day IL but not due to any new information. It was always going to take a while to heal, but Lovullo emphasized that Kelly will pitch again this year.

Miguel Castro (Shoulder Inflammation has been cleared for all baseball activities and will beging throwing next week.

Luis Frias, who also has shoulder inflammation, should be "right behind" Castro.