The Diamondbacks’ 14-3 rout of the Dodgers today wasn’t an entirely smooth ride for Arizona, as left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. left the game after suffering some tightness in his left calf. The injury occurred when Gurriel was trying to beat out a grounder in the bottom of the sixth, and he was replaced in left field when the seventh inning began. Manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro) that Gurriel is day-to-day for now and will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.
Gurriel is hitting .274/.316/.428 with 17 home runs over 522 plate appearances this season, while posting solid defensive metrics across the board as the Diamondbacks’ everyday left fielder. The glovework is a bit less impressive than it was in 2023, but Gurriel’s 104 wRC+ is just a shade beneath his 105 wRC+ in 592 PA a year ago. That successful first season in Arizona and his continued hitting in the playoffs inspired the D’Backs to re-sign Gurriel in free agency last winter, bringing him back on a three-year, $42MM deal that includes a club option for 2027.
While Gurriel has been prone to pretty extreme hot-and-cold stretches at the plate, his streakiness has evened out to a pretty stable career track record. Over the last five 162-game Major League seasons, Gurriel has averaged no less than 1.6 fWAR and no more than 2.0 fWAR, though his 1.9 fWAR through 125 games this year could get a new highwater mark.
Of course, that’s assuming this calf problem doesn’t require a stint on the 10-day injured list. Calf injuries can be tricky to manage and anything more than minor cafe issues can tend to linger, so there will be some measure of concern in the Diamondbacks’ camp until the MRI comes back clean.
Arizona can hardly afford to lose another regular during the playoff hunt. Today’s victory put the Snakes five games back of the Dodgers in the NL West race, and just percentage points ahead of the Padres for the top NL wild card berth. While the D’Backs have built a little breathing room in their pursuit of at least a wild card, the team has hung in even though Ketel Marte, Christian Walker, and Gabriel Moreno are all on the 10-day IL.
The good news on the injury front is that Walker is “real close” to a return, Lovullo told Piecoro and company today. Walker could be back at some point during the Diamondbacks’ six-game road trip that begins Tuesday in San Francisco, as the first baseman has progressed to facing live pitching in workouts at the team’s Spring Training camp. It doesn’t appear as though Walker will need a minor league rehab assignment, even though he has been sidelined for over a month due to a left oblique strain.
Moreno’s IL stint (due to a groin strain) is also nearing the one-month mark, as Moreno hasn’t played since August 5. Lovullo said Moreno is hitting and has resumed catching drills. Marte is also taking live at-bats but isn’t yet running out of the batters’ box, as he continues to recover from an ankle sprain that sent him to the IL on August 18.