PHOENIX — The end of a season brings about evaluations and regrets, and for the Arizona Diamondbacks, the topic of injury management came up during exit interviews.
The Diamondbacks missed the postseason via tiebreakers with the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets after losing five of the last seven games. In a 6-3 defeat against the San Francisco Giants to kick off the final week, All-Star Ketel Marte was controversially out of the starting lineup, as he asked for the day while dealing with lingering effects of an ankle injury.
Any game throughout the season could have made the difference, but the final eight days stand out as a particularly grave lost opportunity.
General manager Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo addressed the situation after-the-fact at Chase Field on Tuesday.
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“I tried to do my best to make sure every player understood how important each game was down the stretch, and there’s an elite athlete we’re talking about that was giving everything that he possibly could and his tank was on empty,” Lovullo said. “(Marte) explained that to me, and I respected that and that’s how we worked all year long.”
“I just want to say that at some level, the team and the players you have, there has to be a trust,” Hazen added. “We trust them and understand them and listen to them and there’s a time where you push, right, and you guys don’t get to see all those things, but I do. … And that trust is, the concept of making a guy go out and play or pushing a guy and then we’re re-injuring him, which happened this year, then the conversation turns in the other direction of how did we do that. We pushed him and now he misses two and a half weeks in September.”
Marte tried to plow through an ankle injury sustained after Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs dove past second base and into his leg on Aug. 10. Marte was removed from two games after collapsing in the batter’s box and was eventually placed on the injured list for more than two weeks with a high ankle sprain.
The switch-hitter had heated back up with a 1.129 OPS over 11 games before the off day. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno were also out of that particular lineup while managing their own injury concerns.
Hazen said forcing a player in when he’s saying he cannot go is not realistic.
“Everyone’s frustrated in those situations,” Hazen said. “A player that’s hurt or is banged up is also frustrated in that situation. Like, that’s not how they want to draw it up, either. They come in and express frustration, how they’re feeling and that they may be letting people down in certain places, but it is what it is. We have to deal with it and we have to be smart about it.”
The “return to play program” became a common term with the D-backs balancing working players back in while every game is so important. Moreno could not bust down the first-base line to avoid getting thrown out against the Padres on Friday for that reason.
The Diamondbacks dealt with injuries all season, and post-mortem, more have been revealed. Lovullo said reliever Kevin Ginkel suffered a fracture in his shin after taking a comebacker against the Mets on June 1. He avoided the IL and pitched through pain until it healed. Geraldo Perdomo said he managed groin and hamstring discomfort for stretches after coming off the IL with a torn meniscus that cost him the first two months.
“At the end of the day, these guys want to get out there and play,” Lovullo said. “… It doesn’t always sound great when a player can’t play, there’s always a good reason when a player can’t play. There’s also times where a player should not be playing, but they’re tough and they want to do it for their teammates.”
The team was also criticized for situations like Eduardo Rodriguez and Alek Thomas, who suffered setbacks while on the injured list that shut them down for significantly more time.
Diamondbacks not using injuries for an excuse
The Diamondbacks’ injured list, at one time or another included starting pitchers Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Rodriguez, Ryne Nelson and Jordan Montgomery; relievers Bryce Jarvis, Kyle Nelson and Paul Sewald along with position players Moreno, Marte, Christian Walker, Perdomo, Thomas, Randal Grichuk and Gurriel, plus top prospect Jordan Lawlar in the minors.
Hazen said that injuries do not count as an excuse for missing the postseason.
“Every team’s injured,” Hazen said. “Look at the number of pitching injuries the Dodgers have taken on in their rotation. They won the division. The position player group lost Perdomo and Alek Thomas and others and we led the league in runs. So I can’t make the argument in both directions, right?
“Injuries are no excuse. Every team takes on injuries. You look at some of the teams in the playoffs right now, they’re decimated with injuries, right? I mean, Atlanta lost (Ronald Acuna Jr.) and (Spencer) Strider for the whole year, and look where they are.”
Lovullo said no offseason procedures have been outlined to him, and Hazen added he was confident there was no plan for any surgeries.
It’s just about rest and recovery for 2025 at this point with players who were banged up.