Taijuan Walker on DL, Silvino Bracho recalled

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced this morning that starting pitcher Taijuan Walker has been placed on the disabled list with right forearm inflammation. To take his spot on the roster, the team has recalled reliever Silvino Bracho. Walker had to leave yesterday’s game against the Dodgers in Los Angeles after throwing two innings. Following the game, he was upbeat about it, saying the tightness was something which had happened before, and he didn’t expect to miss any time. However, that has not turned out to be the case. He’ll get an MRI tomorrow, but the team is still saying they don’t believe there is significant structural damage. Fingers crossed they’re right.

This move is obviously not intended to replace Walker, and there will be another move made for Friday. . The most likely candidates to do that are Braden Shipley, whose start aligns nicely with Walker’s, and who has been good in his starts for Reno this far, or Matt Koch, who was previously called up. However, the way the calendar breaks, the team could end up rotating in an additional bullpen arm, between the times the team needs a #5 starter. If Walker’s stay on the DL ends up being a short one, then this may well be the most efficient use of the roster.

Finally, don’t want to say “I told you so,” but in spring training, I looked at history, and concluded there was a better than even chance of the D-backs needing a sixth starter before the end of April. And, here we now are... needing a sixth starter before the end of April.