Jake Lamb off DL; Christian Walker optioned to Reno

The season had barely begun, Jake Lamb having played only four games, before he was forced on the disabled list. after experiencing an issue in his left shoulder. The problem first arose during the opening contest against the Dodgers, when he appeared to hurt it making a diving catch on a foul ball, as shown below. Though he stayed in the game, the issue appears to have been exacerbated (“What does ‘exacerbate’ mean?” “It means um, to make things worse.” “Right.”) by a slide into home-plate in the 15th inning, pictured top. Though he scored the tying run, Lamb woke up the next morning with a stiff shoulder, and was subsequently diagnosed as having a sprained left AC joint.

Lamb missed 39 games as a result of the injury, and began a rehab assignment with our High-A affiliate in Visalia on May 13. He had three games there, going 2-for-11 with a pair of doubles as he knocked off the rust, and has been passed fit to rejoin the team. Interestingly, the team opted to send Christian Walker back down to Reno: he had only recently re-joined the Diamondbacks, following the injury to A.J. Pollock. The obvious candidate to lose his roster spot would have been Deven Marrero, who started fourteen games at the hot corner in Lamb’s absence. But the team has chosen to hold onto him, perhaps for defensive purposes and as a potential platoon partner with Jake.

The other move probably deserves a mention. Braden Shipley, who was called up and then put on the DL without making an appearance, has been cleared for duty and sent back to Reno. The team currently has an extra reliever, as they use the off days to avoid the need for a fifth starter and the bullpen should mostly be in good shape, so there was no current need for an additional long reliever. Probably won’t be Shipley’s last call-up of the season, however.