As expected, the Diamondbacks reinstated Zac Gallen from the 15-day injured list today, as Gallen prepares to start Arizona’s game against the Athletics. Left-hander Brandon Hughes was optioned to Triple-A yesterday to open up a roster spot for Gallen’s return.
Gallen suffered a right hamstring strain just six pitches into a start on May 30, so he’ll now return to action after almost exactly a month off. The rehab process went pretty smoothly for the ace right-hander, as he didn’t even make any minor league rehab starts during his recovery. Gallen instead tossed live batting practice sessions, simulated games, and bullpens to ramp up and get ready, and a 67-pitch sim game last Monday was essentially the final step of the process. Once Gallen came out of a Thursday bullpen session feeling good, the D’Backs finalized their plans to start Gallen today against Oakland.
Needless to say, getting Gallen back after just a month is a sigh of relief for the Diamondbacks, considering how injuries have plagued Arizona’s rotation. Eduardo Rodriguez signed a four-year, $80MM free agent deal over the offseason but has yet to pitch after suffering a lat strain during Spring Training, and Merrill Kelly will be out until at least mid-August due to a teres major strain in his throwing shoulder. Jordan Montgomery’s late signing and subsequent late start to the season has also led to some inconsistent results for the left-hander, and between some other struggles for the younger starters, Arizona ranks only 27th of 30 teams in rotation ERA this season.
Gallen was again a bright light for the rotation, with a 3.12 ERA in his first 11 starts and 57 2/3 innings before his hamstring strain. Missing a month could hurt Gallen’s chances of his third straight top-five finish in NL Cy Young Award voting, yet helping get the Diamondbacks into contention again is surely the chief priority in Gallen’s mind. Despite the starting pitching concerns and a 39-43 record, the D’Backs are 3.5 games back of the last NL wild card spot, so getting even average results from the rotation could put Arizona more firmly in position for a second-half surge.
In other news about Rodriguez, manager Torey Lovullo told MLB.com and other media that the left-hander will undergo an MRI in a week to ensure that everything is progressing as expected with his lat muscle. Rodriguez has been throwing at distances of 105 feet, but if the MRI is clean, he’ll start a more intensive throwing program.
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