Kelly injury reopens D-backs' catching competition

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The D-backs will be without the services of catcher Carson Kelly for an extended period after he was diagnosed with a fractured forearm.

Kelly was hit on the right forearm by a pitch in Monday’s game against the White Sox, and tests revealed a distal ulna fracture. While manager Torey Lovullo did not want to get into possible timelines for Kelly’s return, it will likely be measured in months.

“I always hope for a miracle and that there's going to be an unbelievable recovery,” Lovullo said.

But Major League Baseball teams can’t deal in hopes and miracles, so the D-backs now must find a catcher to back up Gabriel Moreno.

The initial plan had been for Kelly to get a bulk of the playing time behind home plate as the team eased Moreno, who has just 73 big league plate appearances under his belt, into more and more work.

The D-backs acquired Moreno during the offseason as part of a deal that sent outfielder Daulton Varsho to the Blue Jays.

But after Kelly's injury, the plan to ease Moreno into things “might not be a possibility,” Lovullo said. “Eliminating Carson throws us into a totally different genre. We're trying to figure out that exact answer, and those are discussions that we're having.”

Behind Moreno, the team has two catchers still in camp: Jose Herrera and P.J. Higgins.

Herrera would seem to have a leg up in the backup competition on multiple fronts. He’s already on the 40-man roster, and he spent a good chunk of the 2022 season with the big league club as Kelly’s backup.

During his time in the Majors last year, D-backs pitchers were effusive in their praise for how Herrera called games, as well as his defensive prowess.

The D-backs signed Higgins, 29, to a Minor League deal this offseason after he spent seven seasons in the Cubs' organization. He appeared in nine games for the Cubs in 2021 and 74 games in ‘22.

“There is no scorecard on this,” Lovullo said. “We’ve got to have our conversation and just watch these guys play. So to me, there is no leg up. Everybody's neutral. We’re throwing everything back into the pool and we're going to start to figure out what to do. We’ve got some really good options.”

Major League Baseball has given pitchers the option to have a PitchCom device on their belts or gloves during the spring, which they can use to communicate pitch selections to the catcher. It hasn’t been announced whether they will be allowed to use the devices in the same way during the regular season, but if they are, it would become less important for catchers to be familiar with their pitchers.

“I think it takes [away] a lot of any concerns that you might have with a young catcher -- not just Gabby but somebody [else] that doesn't necessarily dig into the game plans because they're new to the environment,” Lovullo said. “I think that could be covered by the transmitter being on the pitcher’s glove.”

Regardless of who wins the backup spot, the D-backs are buoyed by the presence of Moreno, who is regarded as one of the game’s best prospects.

“Catch and release on throws down to second base, his receiving has been exceptional from my angle,” Lovullo said. “There's certain parts of blocking that he needs to get better at and more consistent with. He might not know the pitchers as well as some others, but it's been a crash course for him this spring. Gabby seems like he's got a very high baseball IQ, and that's always a good starting point with a catcher.”