PHOENIX -- A familiar face was back in the D-backs clubhouse Friday night as the club selected the contract of right-hander Rubby De La Rosa from Triple-A while placing reliever J.J. Hoover on the 10-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation.
To make room for De La Rosa on the 40-man roster, the D-backs designated Double-A catcher Oscar Hernandez for assignment.
Following the 6-1 loss to the Phillies, the D-backs optioned outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker to Triple-A Reno.
A corresponding roster move will be announced Saturday.
De La Rosa did not have to wait long to make his season debut. Called on with a runner at second and two out in the seventh inning, De La Rosa struck out Aaron Altherr to end the inning. De La Rosa hit 99 mph on the radar gun during the at-bat.
De La Rosa made 32 starts for the D-backs in 2015 and 13 in 2016 before suffering an elbow injury in late May. He briefly returned at the end of the 2016 season, but once again experienced elbow issues.
It was initially feared that he would need to have a second Tommy John surgery, but he instead decided to get stem cell treatments done.
De La Rosa was non-tendered by the D-backs in December, but signed back on a Minor League deal and was invited to Spring Training, where he continued his rehabilitation.
While with Triple-A Reno, he was 0-1 with a 2.35 ERA in 14 games and his fastball was clocked in the upper 90s.
"Rubby will be asked to come into the game in some low-leverage situations," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said when asked how De La Rosa will be used. "We're going to integrate him slowly, the best that we can. For right now we're going to make sure that we don't ask him to do anything more than he's ready to do. I just think there's this natural tendency to get back to this level that he's worked so hard to get back to, and maybe do too much."
Lovullo said that Hoover had been dealing with the inflammation for a while.
In his first 13 appearances this season, Hoover had a 1.69 ERA and held opponents to a .220 batting average. However, in his last 18 games he had a 6.23 ERA and opponents hit .362 off him.
Randall to fill in
Randall Delgado will start Sunday's game against the Phillies as Lovullo looks to give his pitchers all an extra day of rest.
Robbie Ray will start Saturday and Zack Greinke on Monday. Lovullo declined to detail the rotation after that.
"We have to remember how important this group of five, six guys that are our starting pitchers -- how important rest is to them," Lovullo said. "We're going to ask them to perform at this level all the way through September."