DENVER — The Diamondbacks provided their latest round of crushing injury updates on Friday, June 20, the most noteworthy being that left-hander A.J. Puk would undergo season-ending elbow surgery and that catcher Gabriel Moreno would be lost for weeks with a fracture in his right index finger.
Catcher Adrian Del Castillo was placed on the Triple-A Reno injured list due to back spasms, though the club is hopeful he should be back within a week or two.
Additionally, left-hander Tommy Henry, who most recently was pitching for Reno, will also need season-ending elbow surgery.
Puk’s surgery is the most impactful. He had been dealing with elbow problems since mid-April, but after trying to rest and rehab the issue, he was forced to cut short his throwing program earlier this month and scheduled a visit with noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said Puk was having surgery on June 20, though the nature of the procedure would not be determined until it was underway.
“If the ligament is still in place, they won’t replace the ligament; they’ll just do that external bracing (procedure),” Lovullo said. “If the ligament is damaged and they need to put a new ligament in there, it will be officially a Tommy John, as well.”
Pitchers who have had the internal brace procedure have been able to return to action within roughly 12 months. The full reconstruction tends to come with a timeline closer to 18 months.
Moreno was diagnosed with a hairline fracture in his finger, an injury suffered June 6 when an 86.5 mph curveball from right-hander Cristian Mena bounced and struck him on the hand.
General manager Mike Hazen said Moreno underwent both X-rays and an MRI shortly after the injury, but neither detected the fracture. Moreno returned to action for three games — even hitting a homer on June 10 in his first game back — but the injury did not get better, prompting the team to take another look.
Lovullo intimated that Moreno was likely to be out until at least the All-Star break, which begins on July 14.
“I want to say that I appreciate what he was trying to do,” Lovullo said. “I know that he had some at-bats that he was working through pain-wise. They were successful at-bats. He hit a 112-mph home run, and he was just gutting it out, but it became too much.”
Del Castillo would have been a natural replacement for Moreno had Del Castillo not experienced back spasms connected to a recent flight. Del Castillo had only recently returned from a right shoulder strain that cost him the first seven weeks of the minor league season.
Hazen said an MRI on Del Castillo came back clean. The club is hopeful Del Castillo could be back within a couple of weeks.
The club brought up veteran catcher Aramis Garcia on June 19 for his second stint in the majors since Moreno’s injury.
Henry pitched four innings for the Diamondbacks in Atlanta on June 5, then pitched again for Reno five days later. He landed on the injured list on June 12.
Lovullo said the situation with Henry’s elbow was similar to Puk’s.
“I’m sure we’ll see what’s going on when we get in there,” he said.