ATLANTA – For the Diamondbacks, the hits just keep on coming.
And not in a good way.
The oft-injured Arizona club earned a series win over the National League East-leading Braves over the weekend, but the Diamondbacks could be without third baseman Nolan Arenado when their three-game series in Boston begins Monday.
Arenado exited Sunday’s series finale, a 5-3 loss to the Braves, with left trunk discomfort after he grounded out to end the top of the fourth inning.
The trunk is also known as the torso, which is the central part – or core – of the body.
Arenado hit a grounder down the third-base line that was stopped by a diving Austin Riley, and he seemed to slow down while running down the first-base line as Riley made the throw across the diamond.
Arenado grimaced after running through first base, and he was replaced by Ildemaro Vargas on defense at third base in the bottom of the fourth and in the sixth spot of Arizona’s order.
Though Arenado has not been placed on the injured list, he will get an MRI in Boston before the team takes its next steps.
“I’ll probably get an MRI and go from here,” Arenado said. “I am worried.”
Arenado hit two home runs (his 19th and 20th) in Arizona’s 10-3 win over the Braves on Saturday, which marked the ninth time in his career he has hit at least 20 home runs in a season.
“We’re going to remain optimistic,” said manager Torey Lovullo. “We’re [going to] see how he feels through the rest of [Sunday]. We’ll head up to Boston. Some imaging is scheduled and we’ll get more of a snapshot of what’s going on. He’s having a tremendous year. I thought about giving him the day off, but he hit two home runs [on Saturday] and had a really nice day. He didn’t want [the day off]. He didn’t ask for it.”
The 35-year-old described the injury as intercostal.
“I just felt a little bit of pain under the intercostal area,” Arenado said. “I don’t know. I haven’t felt that before. I had to get taken out of the game. I felt it before the at-bat. But it didn’t feel like pain or anything. When I swung, it wasn’t getting drastically worse, but it didn’t feel right. I thought I’d just let them know.”
Though trunk discomfort is a rather unusual diagnosis, Lovullo’s experience around this type of injury gives him reason for concern.
“He’s a very tough player,” Lovullo said. “So for him to react that way, there’s concern. Once we figure out what’s going on, we’ll hope it’s the shortest time down. Usually [the diagnosis] is not a great sign. That’s been my experience in this game for the past 30 years.”
Arenado has never had this specific injury and he took himself out of the game out of an abundance of caution.
“I just didn’t want to mess around with it,” Arenado said. “It doesn’t feel great, but we’ll see what happens. … It’s a day game. It’s hard to get going. You always feel things that don’t feel quite loose. But you get loose as the game goes on sometimes. I didn’t feel it in the cage today, getting loose for the game. I didn’t feel it during anything until I bent over to put my leg guard on [before my at-bat]. I felt a little something.”
Vargas has been a silver lining for the D-backs in light of the injuries. Vargas started at second base on Saturday in place of Ketel Marte who, at the time, was day to day with knee soreness. Vargas hit a home run in both games, and it’s the second time in his career that he’s homered in back-to-back games. Vargas hadn’t homered in 73 games prior to Saturday’s three-run blast.
“He’s like the Energizer Bunny,” Lovullo said. “He doesn’t start and he’s in the cage, stretching and getting loose. We holler for him and three innings later he’s hitting a solo home run. We’re not surprised.”
Vargas has played multiple positions this season and would likely be inserted into the daily lineup in the event of an Arenado injured list stint.
The D-backs could also activate outfielder Jordan Lawlar, who is making rehab starts with Double-A Amarillo.