Another D-backs First Baseman Suffers Season-Ending Injury

The Arizona Diamondbacks have received more bad news for their first base position.

According to the D-backs.TV broadcast on Tuesday night, and later noted by the Latest D-backs Injuries list, first baseman Tyler Locklear is expected to miss the rest of the 2025 season after going down on the 10-day Injured List with left elbow inflammation.

Initial tests were reportedly inconclusive, but surgery may be necessary once additional diagnostics return.

Arizona Diamondbacks’ Tyler Locklear Suffers Potential Season-Ending Injury

Locklear was apparently injured during Sunday’s meltdown defensive inning, in which he overran a rundown and a throwing error by Jordan Lawlar later cost Arizona two runs. Locklear collided with Red Sox catcher Connor Wong, leading to the eventual injury.

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The 24-year-old had not been in the midst of a particularly successful season, but had begun to show some signs at the plate. 

He’d been hitting to a mere .175/.267/.262 slash, good for a .529 OPS with three homers. He did not have an extra-base hit that was not a home run, and struck out 43 times against 10 walks in 116 plate appearances.

However, he had started to stack positive results in his final week. He rode a five-game hit streak from September 1-6, and had worked walks in back-to-back games. Locklear got on base in every September contest.

The D-backs need some production out of the first base position, after Josh Naylor was traded to the Seattle Mariners and Pavin Smith also went down with a season ending injury (left quad strain).

Arizona would like to see more of Locklear’s raw power, and a higher tendency to work counts.

"He's got plenty of power, and I think he has an approach and an ability to grind at-bats," Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen told MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. 

"I think there's times now where he's gotten a little more in swing mode, chasing a little bit more, but he's shown us the ability to have at-bats and pick pitches to go after. And it's something that he's done in his career. So I'm confident we can get it to translate at this level. It's not like we're teaching him a new skill."

The D-backs continue to suffer injury after injury in the 2025 season. 

One backhanded upside of all the roster turnover has been the increased opportunity for young players to get regular playing time.

Unfortunately, this injury takes away a portion of Locklear’s opportunity for development. Veteran Ildemaro Vargas and rookie Tim Tawa will likely get most of the first base reps for the remainder of the year.

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