Martinez's MRI reveals no structural damage in shoulder

PHILADELPHIA -- The Diamondbacks received some good news Saturday when an MRI taken of closer Justin Martinez’s shoulder showed no structural damage.

Martinez had recently experienced a sharp downturn in velocity, which was a cause for concern for the team, especially since A.J. Puk, who had shared the closing duties with Martinez, has been out with a flexor strain and was recently transferred to the 60-day IL.

Martinez was placed on the 15-day IL on Thursday morning.

“The 15 days are going to be a well-needed rest for him, and we'll get him back in there throwing as soon as possible,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “And hopefully get him back here throwing the way he was.”

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The Diamondbacks have a good baseline to judge how things look in Martinez’s shoulder because he underwent an extensive physical process, including an MRI, before he signed his contract extension in March.

The news that there was no damage in the shoulder was not particularly surprising given that Martinez never complained of any pain in that area.

There are a couple of theories as to what could have caused the velocity drop. One is what pitchers refer to as a “dead arm” which is when there is a loss of strength in the shoulder without an injury.

“It could be dead arm,” Lovullo said. “And if you talk to every pitcher that's pitched in this game, dead arm happens towards the end of Spring Training, the beginning of the season.”

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When he first started experiencing some of that fatigue in the shoulder, Martinez increased the exercises he does to strengthen the shoulder which perhaps contributed to the additional loss of velocity he experienced.

“I feel pretty good, honestly,” Martinez said two days before he went on the IL. “I just feel like I’ve been working too much on my shoulder and I was probably doing too much work. That’s why maybe I was throwing that velocity there. But it’s nothing to worry about. My arm feels good, that’s the best part.”

It’s also possible that Martinez was hesitant to throw full out given the uncertainty with what was going on with his shoulder. Now that he has the imaging to show that there’s nothing structurally wrong, that could put his mind at ease.

Lovullo said it was possible that Martinez could begin throwing lightly as soon as Monday, which would seem to indicate that he won’t be out for very long.