Eduardo Rodríguez Suffers Setback and is Shut Down Again

The Diamondbacks received more tough injury news this week on Rodríguez, plus updates on Paul Sewald and Alek Thomas.

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez leaves the game against the Texas Rangers / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY

The Diamondbacks received more tough injury news this week. Left-handed starter Eduardo Rodríguez suffered a setback in recovery from his left shoulder strain after throwing a bullpen on Tuesday. An MRI taken after he reported tightness on Wednesday revealed there is still a "signal" according to manager Torey Lovullo.

Accordingly, Rodríguez been shut down completely from his throwing program. While Lovullo could not offer a timeline for him to begin throwing again, based on how long he waited to begin throwing after the initial injury it will likely be at least a week before he begins a throwing program again. His initial injury occurred on March 19th and Michael McDermott reported on March 28th that Rodriguez had begun his throwing program.

Rodríguez was signed to a four year, $80 million dollar contract during the off season to be the third starter in the rotation behind Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. It was hoped he would add stability and length. With his absence, the team has been forced to go with younger starters in the rotation.

"Not Great news" Lovullo said, "My heart hurts for E-Rod . But this ball club is ready to accept any challenge put before them. They are a tough baseball team. They are resilient. They've had to make many adjustments, and be adaptable, so it will be next man up."

Tommy Henry was slotted into Rodríguez third rotation spot and has pitched much better his last two outings after a very rough start to his season. After allowing five runs in four innings to the Rockies in his first game, Henry has allowed five runs, four earned over his last two starts, going five innings each time.

Ryne Nelson has been manning the fifth spot in the rotation. After giving up five runs in 2.2 innings in his first start of the year he went five inning and gave up three runs in his second.

Jordan Montgomery is slated to join the team during the series in San Francisco next weekend, likely on April 19th. He'll first throw one more minor league tuneup on Saturday. Once Montgomery joins the team, he'll replace either Nelson or Henry in the rotation. Which one loses their rotation spot is yet to be determined.

In some positive injury news Paul Sewald has continued to throw long toss and is scheduled to throw a bullpen off a mound on Saturday. How many bullpens he'll need to throw and when he'll face live hitters has yet to be determined. Lovullo indicated that Sewald will require a minor league rehab stint as well, as he has not pitched in a live action game since late March. How he responds to his first bullpen will determine the next steps. "Tomorrow is going to be a really big day for us," Lovullo said.

Alek Thomas continues to progress in his recovery from a hamstring injury. Speaking with the outfielder today he said that he has been taking live batting practice and has been able to stride and load without limitation. He has not yet played the field and his running progression is still limited to running in a straight line. He said he hoped to begin making left turns on the bases sometime next week. As such, it appears the absolute earliest he might return is during the San Francisco series next weekend, but even that seems optimistic.