CHICAGO -- As it seems has become an annual tradition, a shoulder injury landed Diamondbacks starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy on the 15-day disabled list Saturday.
"Considering his past history, we just thought the best course was to stop it right now, put him on the disabled list, get him strong and get him back ready to go," D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said.
The D-backs recalled Randall Delgado, the right-hander acquired in the Justin Upton trade, to take McCarthy's spot on the roster, but they are not certain he will start in McCarthy's place Tuesday. Gibson said Tyler Skaggs, who came up from Triple-A to pitch one game of a doubleheader last Monday, will also be an option.
McCarthy, 2-4 with a 5.00 ERA in 11 starts this season, said he started feeling like something wasn't right with his shoulder a few days before his last start Thursday. The injury is officially being called right shoulder inflammation. McCarthy has now gone on the disabled list with a shoulder issue in each of the last five seasons.
"It's the same stuff, same spots," McCarthy said. "It's the weirdest deal. I just wake up in the morning and know it's coming. There's no rhyme or reason, nothing that leads to it. There's no previous soreness. It's just like, 'Here we go.'"
McCarthy said he's getting less frustrated with each shoulder injury because he knows it's coming, but not knowing why it happens is particularly flummoxing.
"I'm more used to I guess, as annoying as that is," McCarthy said. "You take away a lot of the unknown I guess. I know what the recovery is, how long it takes, the whole thing. That makes it a little easier than when every day you're worried about what's coming next."
McCarthy has played through shoulder injuries before, as he did Thursday, but now is quicker to just shut it down and let his shoulder heal. How long that takes can vary, and accordingly, there is currently no timetable on McCarthy's return. McCarthy typically waits until two days after he feels no pain to begin throwing again.
The injury affected McCarthy in his last start, which saw him give up six runs in 2 2/3 innings against the Rangers. Before that, he'd been dominant in three straight starts, giving up just one run in 24 innings.
"Not as an excuse, but I definitely did not feel good that day," McCarthy said. "I was certainly hoping I could get through that start fine. It actually felt like it was going to be OK for that start, like it was one of those ones I could get through. It just, for some reason, never quite got there."
McCarthy will return to Phoenix on Sunday and get an MRI on Monday.
Skaggs seems most likely to take McCarthy's spot in the rotation after throwing six shutout innings Monday, but Delgado has a 2.16 ERA over his last three starts with Triple-A Reno. Delgado arrived in Chicago on Saturday morning after an early-morning flight out of Las Vegas.
Gibson said the team will wait to see what happens over the next few days before deciding on a starter for Tuesday.
He also offered a handful of injury updates Saturday, and chief among those was the severity of third baseman Eric Chavez's strained right oblique. Gibson said an MRI showed a minor tear, so a return in three weeks would be the best-case scenario, but the injury could take longer to heal.
Closer J.J. Putz (ebow) has begun throwing on flat ground, and the team is targeting Friday or Saturday for Putz to throw off a mound. Gibson said Putz would need to do that a few times before getting live action in extended spring training games.
Second baseman Aaron Hill (fractured hand) started swinging Saturday, taking 40 swings at balls on a tee. Gibson said a test indicated Hill's hand is at 90 percent strength.
Starting pitcher Daniel Hudson, working back from Tommy John surgery, is slated to make a rehab start with Double-A Mobile on Tuesday. After that, Gibson said, Hudson will take an extra day off and make another start with Mobile. Gibson said Hudson could return in the middle of this month at the earlest.
