After back-to-back years as one of baseball's healthiest teams, the Diamondbacks' injury report is as long as a CVS receipt just three weeks into the season.

-Jesse Friedman

The Diamondbacks' injury luck has run out

In retrospect, one of the best-kept secrets about the 2023 Diamondbacks was their health.

Among their frontline position players, only catcher Gabriel Moreno (shoulder inflammation) and third baseman Evan Longoria (lower back strain) spent time on the injured list. Their stays were relatively short; 20 days for Moreno, 23 for Longoria.

On the starting pitching front, the Diamondbacks lost Merrill Kelly for a month with calf inflammation, Tommy Henry for the final 65 days of the season with elbow inflammation and Drey Jameson from July 7 onward with an elbow injury that led to Tommy John surgery. Reliever Joe Mantiply missed some time as well, among others.

According to Baseball Prospectus' injured list ledger, however, the 2023 Diamondbacks lost less projected value (in terms of wins above replacement) to the injured list than any other team in baseball. In other words, they were impacted by injuries less than any other team.

Given the very small margin by which the Diamondbacks made the postseason, one or two more injuries could have been the difference between winning the NL pennant and not making the playoffs at all.

While injuries are, on some level, a function of past health, they are also uncomfortably random, subject to the whims of the conniving baseball gods. In 2023 — and also in 2022, in fact — the gods have favored the Diamondbacks. Suffice it to say that has not been the case in 2024.

Shortly before the season began, closer Paul Sewald suffered a left oblique strain and starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez strained his left lat. Both opened the year on the injured list and have not yet returned.

Since then — in the span of less than three weeks — seven teammates have joined them:

• OF Alek Thomas (hamstring)
• SS Geraldo Perdomo (knee)
• RHP Luis Frías (shoulder)
• RHP Merrill Kelly (shoulder)
• RHP Ryne Nelson (elbow)
• RHP Miguel Castro (shoulder)
• LHP Kyle Nelson (shoulder)

In Triple-A Reno, a pair of depth options in shortstop Jordan Lawlar (thumb) and Jorge Barrosa (hamstring) have also hit the injured list.

In total, 12 players on the Diamondbacks' 40-man roster — that is, more than one-fourth of them — are on the IL.

So far, the Diamondbacks have managed to stay afloat. They are 12-13 after obliterating the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night, and their plus-39 run differential is the third-best mark in baseball.

Nonetheless, the Diamondbacks have yet to feel the effects of their most costly loss to date, that of right-handed starting pitcher Merrill Kelly.

After being scratched from his start on Sunday due to shoulder soreness, Kelly was sent back to Arizona for further evaluation. The Diamondbacks officially placed him on the 15-day IL on Tuesday, and manager Torey Lovullo's comments on Kelly's timeline were not particularly reassuring.

Theo Mackie @theo_mackie Torey postgame on Merrill Kelly: “We’re not looking in terms of weeks as we had hoped for. So I think the next step up is a month, more than that.” I asked if he thinks Kelly will be back by the All-Star break: “I don’t know. Hard to say.” 8:1 PM • Apr 23, 2024 10 Retweets 59 Likes Read 10 replies

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According to Lovullo, Kelly will miss more than a month — possibly much more — and Rodriguez will be out until at least June. That means other Diamondbacks starters will have to step up.

In that regard, the team's signing of top free-agent left-hander Jordan Montgomery looks all the more crucial. In Kelly's absence, Montgomery will effectively serve as the Diamondbacks' No. 2 starter behind Zac Gallen, a role that is seemingly in his wheelhouse after he posted a 3.20 ERA in 188.2 innings last year.

For now, it appears that Brandon Pfaadt, Slade Cecconi and Tommy Henry will round out the rotation.

As for the other Diamondbacks on the injured list, Sewald seems to be closest to making a return. He threw 21 pitches in a rehab outing with Triple-A Reno on Tuesday and could be back with the team in a matter of days. Outfielder Alek Thomas, meanwhile, could reportedly return as soon as the team's next home-stand.

Outside of that duo, little is known about the injury timelines for the others on the Diamondbacks' injured list. Frankly, it is hard to keep track of them all; five players have been added in just the past week.

This is a test unlike any the team has faced since at least 2021. Let's see how they respond.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Truth be told, every team has a situation like this at some point... Players get banged up ... It happens. I don't want to complain about it."   Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo on team's influx of injuries to team broadcaster Steve Zinsmeister​ GEAR UP ​