What a weird couple of days for the Diamondbacks.
On Saturday, they dropped 20 runs on the San Diego Padres. The following day, the “getaway day” featured a 16-inning bout that resulted in Jeff Mathis taking the mound.
On Tuesday, the Diamondbacks got back on track with a 5-3 win, but then followed that up with a 19-2 loss after both Shelby Miller and T.J. McFarland had to leave the game due to injury.
On Thursday the team placed both pitchers on the 10-day disabled list. Miller was diagnosed with right elbow inflammation, and McFarland has a strained neck.
Both injuries are concerning for the club with Miller less than a month removed from his debut after coming off a Tommy John injury. McFarland has been stellar in 2018, throwing nearly 60 innings and a 1.81 earned run average. He has five outings this year with at least three innings pitched. A potential extended trip to the disabled list would be a big hit to a bullpen that has the best ERA in the National League.
Matt Koch and Silvino Bracho have been recalled from Triple-A Reno to replace the two pitchers.
In other news, Zack Greinke will replace Jon Lester on the National League All-Star team. Greinke is 9-5 with a 3.65 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 114 innings pitched. He joins Paul Goldschmidt and Patrick Corbin as the other D-back All-Star representatives.
Zack Greinke has been named to the NL All-Star team to replace Jon Lester (pitching Sunday). pic.twitter.com/yBjKkTSKUb
— MLB (@MLB) July 12, 2018
The Diamondbacks will have a rubber match against the Rockies on Thursday afternoon.