Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Justin Martinez, right, celebrates a win against the Atlanta Braves as he shakes hands with Diamondbacks catcher Jose Herrera after the final out in the ninth inning of a baseball game Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Diamondbacks place reliever Justin Martinez on 15-day IL with right shoulder inflammation
NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 The Arizona Diamondbacks placed reliever Justin Martinez on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation Thursday, a day after after his velocity dipped while he failed to record an out against the New York Mets.
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Justin Martinez, right, celebrates a win against the Atlanta Braves as he shakes hands with Diamondbacks catcher Jose Herrera after the final out in the ninth inning of a baseball game Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 The Arizona Diamondbacks placed reliever Justin Martinez on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation Thursday, a day after after his velocity dipped while he failed to record an out against the New York Mets.
To replace Martinez, the Diamondbacks recalled left-hander Jos茅 Castillo from Triple-A Reno. Left-handed reliever A.J. Puk (left elbow inflammation) was moved to the 60-day injured list.
Martinez entered with a three-run lead in the ninth inning Wednesday night, but allowed Tyrone Taylor鈥檚 homer before walking Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto. Ryan Thompson got the final three outs in the 4-3 win.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
Martinez鈥檚 fastball was clocked between 95 and 96 mph 鈥 down a couple of mph from his previous appearances against the Atlanta Braves last Friday and Saturday and down 5 mph from his peak velocity last season.
Martinez, who flew back to Arizona on Thursday morning to undergo an MRI, battled right shoulder fatigue during the back half of April.
鈥淚t was clear last night, we were all watching the same thing 鈥 his stuff was down,鈥 Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said Thursday before the series finale against the Mets. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to find out what鈥檚 going on with his shoulder. He feels strongly there鈥檚 nothing wrong, but we felt like, at the very least, we give him a little bit of a blow, get him healthy, get him back to full speed. That鈥檚 the most important thing.鈥
Lovullo said he didn鈥檛 know who would step in as the closer for the Diamondbacks. Martinez and Puk have combined for seven of Arizona鈥檚 nine saves this season.
鈥淲e miss A.J. and we鈥檙e going to miss 鈥楯-Mart鈥 鈥 but they鈥檙e going to heal and they鈥檙e going to come back and help us win games,鈥 Lovullo said. 鈥淚n the meantime, everybody鈥檚 going to hold down the fort, keep their seats warm 鈥 hold down the fort and help us win baseball games.鈥
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation