CHICAGO — Arizona Diamondbacks reliever A.J. Puk was placed on the 15-day injured list Saturday due to left elbow inflammation. He will undergo an MRI Monday when the team returns to Phoenix from its current road trip.
Puk, 29, compiled a 3.38 ERA with four saves over the course of eight appearances this season before going down. Manager Torey Lovullo said Puk made the team aware of the injury on Thursday in Miami after he pitched the ninth inning and earned a save in the Diamondback’s 6-4 win. Puk had reported elbow fatigue earlier, Lovullo added.
The six-year veteran has already undergone Tommy John surgery in his career but has made at last 58 appearances in each of the past three seasons. Overall, he has a 3.53 ERA and 26 saves in his career.
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“We just feel like at this point in time it’s the safest thing for him to just pull back and get him evaluated and figure out what’s going on in there,” Lovullo said. “I’m going to remain optimistic. We don’t know what’s going on in there.”
The move was one of several for a beleaguered Diamondbacks bullpen that gave up 11 runs to the Chicago Cubs over the final two innings of a wild 13-11 loss Friday. Left-hander Joe Mantiply and right-hander Bryce Jarvis were both optioned to Triple-A Reno after the game.
Mantiply, 34, gave up six hits and three runs in ⅔ of an inning Friday as the Cubs erased an eighth-inning 11-7 deficit. That outing saw his ERA rise to 15.95.
To replace the three pitchers, the team recalled right-hander Drew Jameson from Reno while selecting the contracts of relievers J.P. Feyereisen and Juan Morillo.
To make room on Arizona’s 40-man roster, infielder Grae Kessinger was designated for assignment.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
