PHOENIX -- The Diamondbacks placed Josh Collmenter on the disabled list with ulcers Friday, at the same time apparently moving into the clear with Willie Bloomquist.
Collmenter did not feel well after arriving home from the D-backs' road trip Thursday night, manager Kirk Gibson said, necessitating a roster move before the start of a three-game homestand against the NL East-leading Nationals.
“It cropped us last night. When he went home, he got very, very sick,” Gibson said of Collmenter.
Bloomquist, meanwhile, underwent an MRI on his balky back Friday morning. The results showed no structural damage, but Bloomquist was held out of the starting lineup for the ninth time in 11 games after feeling soreness on the first game of the trip July 30.
The D-backs discussed putting Bloomquist on the disabled list during the road trip, but he played two of the last four games and appears to be getting better, Gibson said.
“That’s good news,” Bloomquist said of the MRI result. “But for me, it’s really, really, really frustrating given the situation we’re in -- given the situation I’m in. There is no good time for an injury, especially when you don’t know what you can expect from one day to the next.
“It puts everybody in a bind. One minute it will feel fine, the next minute it kinds of spasms up.”
Bloomquist saw the team chiropractor again Friday and does daily core stabilization work.
He had three hits and drove in two runs in his last start Wednesday, improving his batting average with runners in scoring position to an NL-high .426, but he was scratched from the lineup Thursday when his back acted up before batting practice.
“I hit in the cage. Then I was ready to go out for batting practice and my back wasn’t,” Bloomquist said.
“You can’t explain it. One minute you say, 'I can play today,' and then you go stand up to get ready and think, 'I’m not going to play for a week and a half.' There is really no rhyme or reason. I just woke up and that’s how it was.”
Collmenter, 3-3 with a 4.24 ERA, made three consecutive quality starts sandwiching the All-Star break before returning to the bullpen on the recent 10-game trip when Patrick Corbin was recalled from Class AAA Reno and placed in the rotation. Corbin has made quality starts in each of his two appearances since. Collmenter has been particularly effective in long relief, going 0-1 with a 1.61 ERA in 13 relief appearances.
Brad Bergesen was recalled from Reno to take over as the long man in the bullpen.
