CHICAGO – It’s not often that a double-digit win that included a scoreless outing from a once-struggling starter represents merely a pleasant bonus. But that essentially sums up how the Diamondbacks felt after Monday's 10-0 series-opening win against the White Sox at Rate Field.
Sure, it was great to see Eduardo Rodriguez strike out 10 over six scoreless innings while Pavin Smith clubbed a pair of homers. The bigger news for Arizona, though, is that the club currently doesn’t expect to add two more names to a continuously growing injured list.
Just a couple hours before the D-backs found out they’d be without Corbin Carroll for the foreseeable future as the star outfielder recovers from a chip fracture in his wrist, it looked like they were about to lose two more key players. Both reigning NL Player of the Week Eugenio Suárez and cleanup hitter Josh Naylor were out of Monday’s game by the end of the fourth, each departing with an injury while leaving the Arizona dugout in a state of shock.
“I have not seen anything like this,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “Usually, you have a bad week, or a bad month, or two guys in a 30-day period of time that will go down. But it’s just been one after another. It’s frustrating. I feel for the players. I feel for this team.”
Luckily, for now at least, the D-backs don’t intend to put either Suárez (right hand contusion) or Naylor (right shoulder discomfort) on the injured list.
Such an outcome felt far-fetched when Suárez was hit by a pitch on the right hand during his first-inning at-bat. After fouling off Chicago starter Shane Smith’s first pitch, Arizona’s third baseman was then hit by a 95.9 mph four-seamer and was in immediate pain. Suárez walked directly towards the visiting dugout, falling to one knee while being examined by Lovullo and trainer Max Esposito.
Though he eventually stayed in the game and ran the bases to finish the top of the first, Suárez was replaced by Ildemaro Vargas as the D-backs took the field in the bottom half. Initial X-rays of Suárez’s hand came back negative, but the sight of him departing was enough to cast a pall over an already ailing club.
“I’m not gonna lie – we were all feeling pretty down,” Lovullo said. “I could sense it. I do take a step back, get into the middle of the dugout. I try to get the heartbeat of what’s going on, and I could tell that these guys were extremely down.”
One inning later, Naylor appeared to hurt himself on an aggressive swing when he fouled off the first pitch of his at-bat in the second. He later struck out, notably grimacing as he walked back to Arizona’s dugout. Naylor stayed in for two more frames, but after appearing to be in significant pain on his fourth-inning groundout, he was replaced at first base by Tim Tawa.
Lovullo noted Naylor plans to get back on the field Tuesday, which would be a welcome relief for a team currently enduring a tsunami of June injuries. Along with Carroll, the Diamondbacks have lost pitchers Corbin Burnes, Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk for the season this month, while catcher Gabriel Moreno is also recovering from a hairline fracture in his right hand.
It’s a rash of ailments that has left many within the clubhouse in a state of shock.
“I can’t remember something like that happening,” Rodriguez said. “In all the years I’ve been playing, I’ve never seen something like that. But it’s baseball, and that happens. Right now we just have to handle it and keep winning games until they come back and they help the team win.”
Arizona took care of that much on Monday, thanks in part to Smith and Ketel Marte. The former has eight hits in June, four of which are homers. Meanwhile, the latter proved why he leads NL second basemen in All-Star votes with his fourth straight start featuring three or more hits.
It’s the kind of resolve the D-backs will require as they continue to navigate a season full of hard luck.
“I took a step back and told myself, ‘Keep the ship on the course,’” Lovullo said. “As frustrated as I am, and as much as we’re pulling for these players to stay healthy, it doesn’t always happen. ... They figured out how to adjust, evaluate the situation and keep fighting. That’s what we do a really good job of here.”