Gabriel Moreno is Getting Close to Return for the Diamondbacks

Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo gave a critical update on the status of catcher Gabriel Moreno today. Moreno went on the injured list August 6 due to a left abductor (groin) strain.

While rookie Adrian Del Castillo has provided plenty of offense since his call up, Moreno’s absence has been felt on the pitching and defensive side of the ball. The team had a 4.51 ERA when he went down, and has had a 4.93 since. At the same time opponents have stolen successfully in 36 of 38 attempts.

According to Lovullo, Moreno is starting to progress and is getting “pretty close” to returning, but it’s still not going to be this week.

Moreno has been running “arcs” at 80% effort. Arcs are running drills that follow the contour of the infield where it meets the outfield grass. Moreno will be at Chase Field on Wednesday to hit off the Trajekt batting practice machine and catch a bullpen.

The next step after that will be for Moreno to play in a continuation camp game at Salt River Fields over the weekend. What happens at that point depends on how Moreno responds. “If there are some good days it might accelerate, if there are some bad days it might postpone it.” Lovullo said.

Looking at the calendar, and based on the information given, the absolute earliest that Moreno could return then would be during Rockies series in Colorado that begins on September 16th. That seems highly unlikely however, as the team would be loathe to have him return in that high elevation environment.

The more likely scenario is that Moreno catches two games in Continuation camp, one over the weekend and one during the early part of next week. If there are no setbacks, then we can project Moreno to join the team in Milwaukee at the start of the four game series against the Brewers that begins September 19th.

The Diamondbacks have opted to utilize continuation camp at Salt River Fields rather then send players out on rehab assignments lately. Continuation camp is simply an extension of the Arizona Complex League, which ended a month ago.

The team recently utilized this method for both Christian Walker and Ketel Marte. There is a tradeoff involved. While simulation games in continuation camp probably don’t have quite the same pace and intensity as playing in games in Reno or Amarillo, the team feels they can simulate everything they need to, with regards to squatting, blocking, receiving, and throwing.

More importantly, it’s a controlled environment where they can monitor the player’s health better. While Lovullo didn’t rule out a rehab assignment, he said “The fact that our medical team is here, we’re here with him, we can get a bird’s eye view on it, I think it’s very important that we do a lot of it here.”

Not every player has avoided going on rehab assignments. Early in the year Alek Thomas went on a rehab assignment with Reno at the end of April. He ended up re-injuring his hamstring. Geraldo Perdomo followed up knee surgery by playing three games in the ACL, and then went to Reno to play four games without incident before returning to the team.

Lovullo emphasized that every injury and circumstance is different. “We’ve had some different injuries this year. The medical team, and their input, and the freedom they have to ask questions, and the response that they get from these players is invaluable.”

Clearly as the season has gone on however the Diamondbacks have opted for the safest route possible with their biggest stars. “Nothing against the trainers in Amarillo or Reno, it’s just our experts are here, our team doctors are here. We felt like it’s been very important that this group has been staying close to home.”

The Diamondbacks have been forced to be patient with Moreno’s injury. Since the time he was hurt, Lovullo signaled it would be a while. He repeatedly said he was confident that Moreno would return before the end of the season.

The light at the end of the tunnel is visible, and it indeed seems possible Moreno will return with roughly 10 games left in the regular season, and he might even get to catch in half of those.