Diamondbacks’ Carlos Santana gets ‘bummer’ injury update after setback

Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Carlos Santana suffered a setback in his recovery from a right groin strain, delaying a possible return after the veteran experienced discomfort during a rehab assignment with Triple-A Reno.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said Monday that Santana felt a twinge in the injured area Saturday while playing for Reno and returned to Arizona for further evaluation before the team’s game against the Texas Rangers.

“Kind of a bummer,” Lovullo said, as reported by the Associated Press. “I know he’s been working really, really hard to come back. He hit a home run a couple of days ago, so I think his swing was coming around.”

Santana, 40, has been sidelined since April 5, when he exited Arizona’s game against the Atlanta Braves in the second inning after recording a single. The injury came during a difficult start to the season for the longtime first baseman, who went 2-for-24 with no home runs or RBIs in eight games before landing on the injured list.

The Diamondbacks signed Santana in early February after he split last season between the Cleveland Guardians and Chicago Cubs. He hit a combined .219 with 11 home runs and 54 RBIs in 2025.

The current injured list stint is only the fifth of Santana’s 17-year major league career and is expected to become his longest absence since 2010, when he missed the final two months of his rookie season with a sprained left knee.

Arizona continued its recent strong pitching stretch Monday, defeating Texas 1-0 for its third consecutive win, per the AP. Michael Soroka allowed just three singles across 6 1/3 scoreless innings, while Geraldo Perdomo delivered the game’s only run with a first-inning RBI double after Corbin Carroll opened the inning with a double.

Paul Sewald earned his ninth save in nine chances as Diamondbacks pitchers allowed only two runs over the club’s past three games.

Ketel Marte also reached a franchise milestone, appearing in his 1,092nd career game for Arizona to tie Paul Goldschmidt for second-most in team history behind Luis Gonzalez.

Arizona continues the series Tuesday with Zac Gallen scheduled to face Texas left-hander MacKenzie Gore.