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Geraldo Perdomo

Diamondbacks Notes: Sewald, Thomas, Nelson, E-Rod, Perdomo

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Paul Sewald and Alek Thomas could both return from the injured list on Tuesday, when the Diamondbacks start a six-game road trip by facing the Reds.  Sewald has yet to pitch this season due to a Grade 2 oblique strain suffered near the end of Spring Training, while Thomas got four games under his belt before being sidelined by a hamstring strain.

Sewald seems to be the closer of the two to being activated, as he already joined the D’Backs in the clubhouse today prior to their departure for Cincinnati.  The closer started a Triple-A rehab assignment with two-thirds of an inning on April 23, but then his rehab was slowed down after he felt sore following a bullpen session.  A subsequent bullpen session went much more smoothly, and after tossing an inning in an extended Spring Training game Saturday, Sewald appears to be ready to get his 2024 season underway.

The return can’t come soon enough for an Arizona bullpen that has been shaky at best.  The Diamondbacks can only hope that Sewald can stabilize things as well as he did last summer after being acquired from the Mariners at the trade deadline, as Sewald solidified Arizona’s ninth-inning situation and played a huge role in the club’s pennant-winning postseason drive.  This success brought a bit of spotlight to a reliever who had largely flown under the radar in posting a 2.95 ERA over 189 1/3 innings with the M’s and D’Backs since the start of the 2021 season.

Thomas is much more familiar with the hype train due to his time as a top-100 prospect, but the outfielder is still looking to break out in his third Major League season.  On the plus side, Thomas has been an excellent defensive center fielder and he brings a lot of speed to the table, but his career .230/.273/.362 slash line (over 827 plate appearances) leaves a lot to be desired.

Once he makes his return, the Diamondbacks should be able to finally adopt their preferred outfield alignment of Corbin Carroll in right field, Thomas in center, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in left field, and Randal Grichuk and Jake McCarthy providing depth (with Grichuk likely spelling Thomas against left-handed pitching).  This alignment might have the carry-on effect of helping Carroll get on track at the plate, as the reigning NL Rookie of the Year’s struggles could be linked to the fact that he took over regular center field duty with Thomas sidelined.

Speaking of injury returns, the D’Backs got some reinforcement back today when Ryne Nelson was activated from the 15-day IL.  Nelson hadn’t pitched since he was struck in the elbow by a line drive on April 18, and while he looked a little rusty in allowing four earned runs in five innings today, it was still enough to earn a win in Arizona’s 11-4 rout of the Padres.

Nelson provides some help to a rotation that is still without Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez due to their placements on the 60-day IL.  Kelly is gone until at least late June, but manager Torey Lovullo provided some news about Rodriguez today, telling Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports and other reporters that the southpaw will undergo some more tests on his injured lat muscle.  If E-Rod is feeling good and the tests come back clean, Lovullo said Rodriguez could soon start a throwing program.

Rodriguez started the season on the 15-day IL before being transferred to the 60-day, so late May represents the absolute best-case scenario for his first official appearance in a D’Backs uniform.  Since some significant ramp-up time will be required and Rodriguez has already been shut down from throwing once due to continued discomfort in his lat, it’s probably safe to guess that his rehab process will stretch into early June.

Lovullo also had an update on Geraldo Perdomo, as the infielder is throwing and taking grounders.  “Three weeks post surgery, so he’s gotta be careful with his next steps.  It’s getting close to him getting to full baseball activities and I’m excited about that,” the manager told Weiner and company.  Perdomo tore his right meniscus just shy of a month ago, so is on pace with the usual 4-6 week timeline associated with such injuries.

Diamondbacks’ Geraldo Perdomo Suffers Torn Meniscus

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Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo has a torn meniscus that will require surgery, per The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro. The procedure will sideline Perdomo for at least a month. Piecoro suggests that rookie Blaze Alexander will get the lion’s share of playing time at shortstop while Perdomo is on the shelf, though he adds that the club is expected to select the contract of veteran Kevin Newman to replace Perdomo on the active roster. The club’s 40-man roster is currently full, meaning a corresponding move will be necessary to officially add Newman to the roster assuming Arizona doesn’t place Perdomo or another injured player on the 60-day IL,

Perdomo, 24, earned an All Star nod last year on the back of a strong first half that saw him slash an excellent .285/.388/.435 through the end of June, though he struggled the rest of the way with a line of just .205/.318/.280 after July 1. Even so, Perdomo’s switch-hitting bat offered the Diamondbacks roughly league average offense and defense overall last year in addition to strong baserunning that saw him go 16-for-20 on the basepaths. Perhaps most impressive was Perdomo’s plate discipline; he struck out just 17.4% of the time last year while walking at an excellent 12.9% clip, and those numbers largely held up even as his production cratered in the second half.

Those qualities were enough to earn Perdomo the nod as the club’s starting shortstop over top prospect Jordan Lawlar this spring. Unfortunately, Arizona will now be without both players as Lawlar is set to miss at least the first two months of the season after undergoing surgery on his thumb last month. The pair of injuries set the stage for Alexander, a 24-year-old who the club drafted in the 11th-round of the 2018 draft, to take over as the club’s starting shortstop for the time being.

Six games into his major league career, Alexander has held his own with an impressive .278/.350/.444 slash line in 20 trips to the plate while splitting time between shortstop and second base. A career .288/.408/.464 hitter at the Triple-A level, Alexander has posted walk rates above 10% consistently throughout his career despite struggling to make consistent contact but figures to offer a quality glove and decent on-base skills to the Diamondbacks at shortstop.

Should Alexander falter in his first run of regular playing time at the big league level, the Diamondbacks appear poised to turn to Newman. Once a first-round pick by the Pirates in the 2015 draft, the 30-year-old has generally been a below average hitter through his career, slashing a collective .259/.304/.358 (77 wRC+) in six seasons with Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. While those offensive numbers certainly leave something to be desired, Newman makes up for it with a 12% career strikeout rate, a roughly league average 96 wRC+ against lefties, and strong defense all around the infield. Newman should act as a right-handed complement to left-hitting bench piece Jace Peterson, who has struggled to a .553 OPS against southpaws in his career, once selected to the roster.

Geraldo Perdomo To Open Season As Diamondbacks’ Shortstop

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The Diamondbacks head into 2024 with a pair of intriguing young shortstops. Arizona carried both Geraldo Perdomo and top prospect Jordan Lawlar on last year’s playoff roster. Perdomo held the job throughout the postseason and will continue in that role for the upcoming year.

“Perdomo is going to be our starting shortstop,” manager Torey Lovullo declared from the team’s Spring Training complex this week (relayed by Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports and Steve Gilbert of MLB.com). “He’s earned that right. I know he has worked very hard on his right-handed swing. … He deserves the opportunity to show me he’s able to handle a full workload as an everyday shortstop.”

Perdomo was an All-Star last season at age 23. He earned that nod with an impressive .271/.378/.409 batting line through the first half. Perdomo’s offensive production cratered down the stretch, as he hit .214/.322/.297 coming out of the All-Star Break. It looked as if that mediocre finish could at least open the door for Lawlar to seize the job, but the D-Backs are clearly bullish on Perdomo’s ability to rebound.

Overall, Perdomo is coming off an impressive year. His .246/.353/.359 line is right around league average. Perdomo drew walks at a strong 12.9% clip while striking out less than 18% of the time. His offense bounced back in October, as he turned in a .275/.362/.392 slash in 17 playoff contests. Perdomo logged nearly 900 regular season innings at shortstop. Defensive Runs Saved graded him slightly below average, while Statcast’s defensive marks had him just above par.

As Lovullo implied, one of the biggest remaining questions is whether the switch-hitting Perdomo can do enough damage from the right side of the plate. He didn’t hit for any power against left-handed pitching a year ago, running a .242/.304/.274 line in 71 plate appearances. Perdomo showed gap power as a lefty bat, collecting 18 doubles and six homers with a .246/.362/.374 slash.

It seems he’ll get a chance to prove he’s capable of handling pitchers of either handedness. Barring injury, it’s likely that means Lawlar is headed back to Triple-A Reno to start the year. Arizona acquired Eugenio Suárez to play third base and has Ketel Marte locked in at second. They signed Joc Pederson to take the bulk of the DH at-bats. There’s no path to regular playing time on the infield if everyone’s healthy. Arizona certainly won’t want Lawlar playing sparingly in a utility capacity.

The 2021 #6 overall pick could benefit from additional reps at the top minor league level. Lawlar barely played in Reno before Arizona called him up last September. He had just 16 games of Triple-A experience. The right-handed hitter spent the majority of the season at Double-A Amarillo. He turned in a stout .263/.366/.474 line with 15 homers and 33 steals over 89 games there in his age-20 campaign.

Reno’s extreme hitter-friendly nature can throw a wrench into the evaluations for Arizona prospects on both the position player and pitching sides. That’s probably not much of a concern with Lawlar, though, as he remains a consensus top-tier talent. He placed among the sport’s top 10 prospects on recent lists from FanGraphs, Keith Law of the Athletic and Baseball America. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel slotted him in the top 20.

If Lawlar starts the season in Reno, Emmanuel Rivera and Jace Peterson project as the depth infielders. Neither is a great fit at shortstop, so the Snakes could add a glove-first middle infielder to back up Perdomo and Marte. Minor league signee Kevin Newman fits the bill and is trying to crack the MLB team as a non-roster invitee in Spring Training.

Diamondbacks Place Nick Ahmed On 10-Day Injured List, Promote Geraldo Perdomo

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3:18PM: The D’Backs have officially announced the move.  Ahmed’s IL placement is retroactive to March 31.

11:27AM: The Diamondbacks are preparing to promote shortstop Geraldo Perdomo to make his Major League debut, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). It’s certainly early in the season for this type of promotion, but Nick Ahmed’s continued knee pain may be forcing the issue. It’s looking like Ahmed will soon head to the injured list.

The 21-year-old Perdomo has just 26 games at High-A, so his promotion does come as somewhat of a surprise. With the minor league season yet to get underway, however, there’s certainly some sense to getting Perdomo some game action in a short-term fill-in capacity. Thus far in his professional career, Perdomo has shown a tremendous approach at the plate with well-above-average bat-to-ball skills. He has not yet displayed much power, but between his approach at the plate, speed, and defensive skill-set, the Diamondbacks expect Perdomo to eventually take over as their starting shortstop.

That said, Ahmed signed a contract extension in February 2020 that runs through 2023 season, so he is very much still Arizona’s shortstop of the present and the team can take its time in developing Perdomo. Fangraphs ranked Perdomo 68th on their list of the game’s best prospects, his highest finish as a consensus choice in top-100 rankings from Baseball America (75th), MLB.com (79th), Baseball Prospectus (90th), and The Athletic’s Keith Law (91st).

Diamondbacks Designate Junior Guerra

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The Diamondbacks have designated right-handers Junior Guerra and Joel Payamps for assignment. They added righty J.B. Bukauskas, Luis Frias and Matt Peacock, outfielder Stuart Fairchild and infielder Geraldo Perdomo to their 40-man roster.

The 35-year-old Guerra joined the Diamondbacks on a one-year guarantee worth $2.65MM last offseason. He wound up posting 23 2/3 innings of 3.04 ERA/4.12 FIP ball with a 50.8 percent groundball rate, but with just 7.99 K/9 against 5.7 BB/9, the Diamondbacks decided to move on from Guerra.

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