PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks closer Justin Martinez was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with a sprained right ulnar collateral ligament.
Martinez will receive a second opinion on his MRI results, manager Torey Lovullo said, noting no decision has been made on whether he will undergo surgery or not.
Arizona additionally sent Christian Montes De Oca to the 15-day IL with right elbow inflammation after making his major league debut over the weekend. That is retroactive to June 9.
“It’s tough to come to grips with,” Lovullo said of losing Martinez for the foreseeable future.
“We’ve taken on a large number of injuries, specifically elbow injuries. We have to do a good job of understanding why it happened and how to not allow it to happen in the future. It’s not one person, it’s all of us. It’s an entire organization that needs to figure out how to make sure these athletes are preserved, go out there and pitch an entire season.”
The D-backs pivoted by calling up three right-handed pitchers from Triple-A Reno: Kevin Ginkel, Bryce Jarvis and Tayler Scott. Arizona transferred Cristian Mena (right shoulder strain) to the 60-day IL to create a 40-man roster spot for Scott.
Finally, right-hander Jeff Brigham was optioned to Reno after giving up three earned runs in Monday’s 8-4 win over Seattle.
This setback for Martinez came after a stint on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation at the start of May. His velocity ticked down, and the team initially found no structural problems with his shoulder.
He rehabbed for two weeks at the front end of May before he got into game action May 17 at Salt River Fields. He next pitched a May 20 game with Triple-A Reno where the radar guns read 101.5 mph. He came out of that game feeling good about a return to the majors.
Martinez pitched for the Diamondbacks on May 24, the first of five games before his latest injury. Martinez recorded a blown save, a hold and two saves before he left Monday’s outing with two outs in the ninth inning against the Mariners.
“My elbow was getting tighter in the last few pitches, and I decided to call the trainer to figure out what was going on,” Martinez said afterward.
“I want to be healthy to help the team win, and I feel bad for that because everybody wants to be available to go out there and give 100% of what you have. It is what it is. We just have to figure it out and then come back stronger.”
Martinez has a 4.11 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 15.1 frames this season.
Arizona has already had to deal with co-closer A.J. Puk missing nearly the last two months with an elbow issue, as this bullpen continues to take on water.
What are the D-backs getting with Justin Martinez injured, Kevin Ginkel and others back?
Ginkel, a critical piece to the bullpen over the previous two season especially, was sent down May 29 after posting a 12.60 ERA and 2.10 WHIP in 13 games (10 innings pitched). He struck out 15 and walked seven during that span.
Since joining the Aces, Ginkel has given up three earned runs across six games (4.0 innings), allowing five hits and seven walks to five strikeouts.
“Fastball command’s been good, I’ve got a lot of confidence with it,” Ginkel said. “I think it’s just the breaking ball, I don’t want to be telegraphing it or showing it too early. So if I can execute that at the lower half of the zone or expand down below to get swings and misses, I’m doing my job. It’s getting that slider right, trusting my four-seam and two-seam in the zone and letting my stuff do its work.”
Jarvis began the season with the Diamondbacks but landed in Triple-A after giving up six earned runs in 7.1 innings pitched.
He had a stretch of three games (4.0 innings) with no runs allowed on one hit, but that crashed down over his final 1.2 innings.
With three earned runs allowed in his final outing, Jarvis was one of the culprits in the blown game to the Chicago Cubs on April 18 in which the Diamondbacks rallied for 10 runs in the eighth to take a four-run lead but then lost.
He started all eight of the games he’s appeared in for Reno with a 5.17 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. He has struck out 29 batters with 17 walks, averaging just under four innings per start.
Jarvis recently won Pacific Coast League Player of the Week, and he will provide length in the D-backs’ bullpen.
“I went back to throwing a curveball down there, that was a pitch I threw as a starter before I got called up,” Jarvis said. “Just the role I had been in up here didn’t really allow for it. Led more into cutters, sinkers, trying to build those up in 2023 and 2024. The last few weeks, the curveball has felt really good, looking forward to throwing that up here.”
Who is Tayler Scott?
Scott, who was born in South Africa and attended Notre Dame Prep in Scottsdale, gave up just one run across 3.1 innings in three games with Reno. He previously appeared in 17 games for the Houston Astros earlier this season, allowing 10 earned runs over 16.2 innings. He pitched in 62 games for Houston last year with a 2.23 ERA.
Kevin Zimmerman, Damon Allred and Alex Weiner contributed to this report.
