PHOENIX -- Now that Chris Young has been placed on the disabled list, Plan B has become Plan A. Not that the Diamondbacks are sweating it.
They will miss Young, whose numbers litter the NL leaderboard and whose defense ranks among the best in the league.
But they have done without before.
After shortstop Stephen Drew went down last July 20, the D-backs let it bother them so much that they won the NL West by only eight games. They had 48 comeback victories and didn’t lose a game that they led after eight innings.
By now, even Kirk Gibson's mom, who is 81, knows what is coming.
Gibson spoke to her Wednesday morning, about the time Young was undergoing the MRI that revealed what the D-backs are calling a slight ligament tear in his right shoulder. And this was after Gibson learned he would be without right fielder Justin Upton for a second consecutive day because of a nagging bone bruise in his left thumb.
"She said, 'Well, you're just going to have to deal with it, and they're going to have to carry a little extra baggage.' Pretty funny. She understands," Gibson said.
So Gibson's never-give-an-inch is hereditary.
But on Wednesday night, the D-backs lost the final game of the Pittsburgh series 2-1 when David Hernandez's well-located fastball was blooped into no-man's land in short right field to enable the winning to score to break a tie in the eighth inning.
The pop fly negated a solid start by Daniel Hudson. The right-hander yielded two runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out five over 7 2/3 innings.
The Diamondbacks will need to regroup. It’s something they’re accustomed to. When Geoff Blum and Zach Duke suffered major injuries in spring training, Ryan Roberts, Josh Collmenter and Paul Goldschmidt stepped up. And there were plenty of others.
While Young is out, the D-backs will need offense from players such as newcomer Jason Kubel, Roberts, Goldschmidt and old reliable Miguel Montero.
On Wednesday, Kubel knocked in the first run for a 1-0 lead in the first inning. The D-backs have scored in 10 of their 12 first innings this season, 17 runs in all.
Newcomer A.J. Pollock was purchased from Triple-A Reno to add outfield depth when Blum was placed on the disabled list with an oblique muscle injury suffered Tuesday. Pollock showed off his speed when he easily beat a throw to second base while attempting to steal in the seventh inning. But he was tagged out after over-sliding the bag.
"We have a pretty mentally strong team here,” Upton said. “When guys go down, that's a part of the game. You can't expect your roster to be 100 percent the entire year. When teams face adversity, that's when you find out what type of team you have, and I think we have a pretty good one.
"We just have to keep ourselves around the pennant race. The goal is to keep yourself in the hunt. When your name is called, you just go out and do what you have to do. We did it last year. Our guys do that very well. If you look at it long term, we are going to be just fine."
The D-backs may be without Upton for a week or two. They might place him on the disabled list if his thumb does not improve soon. Upton pinch ran in the ninth inning Wednesday, but hitting is the issue, and the D-backs will monitor his progress swinging the bat the next several days before reaching a conclusion.
It’s enough to make a general manager toss and turn.
"I'd be lying if I didn't say it was a tough morning waking up, after what happened to Blum, where J-Up is at, losing a ball game and losing CY,” GM Kevin Towers said. "But we can't hang our heads. That's what embodies this ballclub. We’ve overcome situations like this. Hopefully we'll do it again."
As an experienced veteran, Gibson knows how to deal with it.
"You have to move on. You have to find a way. You can't be discouraged by it," Gibson said. "This is what we signed up for. Things happen along the way and you stand up to that challenge. It's not how we planned it out, but you sign in. You're either in or you're out."
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