Diamondbacks Get Good News on Justin Martinez's MRI

It is no surprise that Martinez had an MRI at the time of his extension, and explains why the team did not immediately send him for imaging when he first reported the shoulder fatigue. After taking some time off however, Martinez displayed ever-diminishing velocity over his next couple of outings.

Things came to a head on April 27 when his two-seam fastball was clocked at only 93.5 MPH, almost seven MPH down from his season average up through April 17. Martinez was placed on the 15-day Injured List on May 2.

The fact that he is scheduled to begin a throwing program on Monday may possibly indicate a minimum injured list stay, providing all goes smoothly and there are no setbacks. The earliest Martinez can return is Saturday, May 17 against the Colorado Rockies at Chase Field.

Martinez has a 2.70 ERA in 12 games, 10 innings pitched, including three saves. He had not allowed an earned run through his first 10 outings, but gave up three earned runs over his final two outings before being placed on the injured list.

At the same time Martinez began to feel the effects of shoulder fatigue, A.J. Puk went on the injured list on April 19 with elbow inflammation. The co-closer is now on the 60-day injured list and not eligible to return unil June 18.

Shelby Miller appears to be the first choice for saves in the interim for Torey Lovullo. But any one of Kevin Ginkel, Ryan Thompson, or even Jalen Beeks could be called upon in the ninth inning, depending on who is available and matchups.

The table below shows the current pitchers in the Diamondbacks bullpen, sorted by innings pitched. These are the pitchers that will have to hold down the fort for Arizona until they get Martinez back.

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