Randall Grichuk Injury Creates Tough Decisions for D-backs

During the offseason Diamondbacks General Manager Mike Hazen made clear that the team would need to add a right-handed bat to the outfield and DH mix to create further balance to the roster and give manager Torey Lovullo the right matchup options.  The starting outfield consists of left hand batters Corbin Carroll and Alek Thomas, and right hand batter Lourdes Gurriel Jr. The primary DH is left hand batter Joc Pederson. 

"We like him as a baseball player, first and foremost, overall. Going out there in the outfield, and his ability to hit lefties for us gives manager Torey Lovullo more options to deploy his roster on a nightly basis. I think it also strengthens the entirety of our 26-man roster," Hazen said at the time of his signing on February 18th. 

What wasn't made clear that day was that Grichuk was recovering from offseason surgery to remove bone spurs from his right ankle in January.  He did not take his first live batting practice until  March 8th, and was still limited in his running.  Despite that  Lovullo continually expressed confidence that Grichuk would be ready for opening day, as recently as Monday afternoon. On Tuesday evening however Lovullo seemed to walk balk those comments regarding Grichuk's readiness for the March 28th opener against the Rockies.  Lovullo stated he was not sure Grichuk would be ready and that the team needed to "hit the pause button". 

That leaves the team with some difficult roster choices to make.  "We haven’t really got to those tough final few decisions that we need to make" Lovullo said. "His status will have a large impact on what happens with a couple of things."

 What follows three of the possibilities that the team might choose from to cover the first 10-15 days of the seasons should Grichuk need a couple of extra weeks to get fully ready for the season. They are not listed in any order of preference or likelihood however. 

1.) Add Jake McCarthy to the Opening Day roster: McCarthy has been somewhat of the odd man out. He had a very good 2022 season, but struggled much of 2023 to make solid contact, and his batting numbers suffered. The addition of Grichuk seemed to indicate McCarthy would start the year in Triple-A Reno, waiting for another chance.  While McCarthy is left-handed, he has a perfectly even career OPS split of .711 against both left and right-hand pitching and can play all three outfield positions. He's batting .289 on 11 for 38 hitting with three doubles and a triple in Spring Training so far. He's drawn just one walk and struck out 10 times however.  McCarthy still has minor league options. 

2.) Add Pavin Smith to the Opening Day roster: Smith is also a left-hand batter, and at this point in his career is primarily limited to first base and DH/Pinch hit opportunities. Both Hazen and Lovullo have repeated often that they believe in Smith's ability to hit major league pitching, and he was recently discussed as the primary backup option at first base behind Christian Walker but not in the outfield. Smith has a career .240/.319/.379 slash, .698 OPS in 1094 career PA.  He hits righties much better than lefties however, with a .735 OPS vs. RHP but just .587 vs. LHP.  So far in Spring Training, he's 8-for-36 with one double, batting .222/.268/.250, .518 OPS. Smith is in his final option year. 

3.) Go with Three Backup Infielders: The team currently has five players vying for two roster spots on the infield.  Of those five, only one has minor league options, right hand batter Blaze Alexander.  The rookie is having a phenomenal spring, batting .381 going 18-for-45 with two doubles, two triples and a homer this spring.  He's been making plays all over the infield at second, short, and third base.  But the team may prefer to have him get everyday at-bats in Reno in order to continue to develop as a hitter. 

Right hand batters Emmanuel Rivera, Elvis Andrus, and Kevin Newman, and left hand batter Jace Peterson are also fighting for those two backup infield roster spots. Rivera is out of options and Peterson is signed to a $5 million dollar deal for 2024, of which the D-backs must pay $3 million. If either of two did not make the roster, they would need to be designated for assignment and go through waivers.  Andrus and Newman were both signed to minor league contracts and are non-roster invitees, and are still in the mix. Newman has an opt out coming due on March 25th. 

The D-backs already had a tough choice to pick two players from these five, knowing that they will likely lose at least two of the players not chosen. In an odd way, the Grichuk situation may present the team with an opportunity to kick the can down the road a week or two. They could carry three infielders on the bench, for example Rivera, Peterson, and Andrus, and option Alexander to Triple-A Reno. In that scenario they'd only lose Newman. However they would also need to remove a player from the 40-man roster  to make room for Andrus in that scenario. 

Whatever happens, the best case scenario for the Diamondbacks is that Grichuk only needs an extra week or two to get ready, and the extra evaluation time of the players above can be put to good use.