How to find roster help 40 minutes away

This story was excerpted from Steve Gilbert’s D-backs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

It was an unsettling scene to be sure -- D-backs star player and NL MVP candidate, Ketel Marte crumpling to the ground after taking a pitch Sunday afternoon against the Rays at Tropicana Field.

Marte had been dealing with what the club says is a low-grade left ankle sprain for a few days and he told manager Torey Lovullo he was able to pinch-hit Sunday.

“It’s not great,” outfielder Joc Pederson said of the scene. “He posts every day, plays through a lot of stuff. … I'm not sure what’s really bothering him. He's been a catalyst to this team, for this offense, defense, all-around playing like an MVP-caliber player. So you never liked to see that. But he's picked us up all year, so now it's our time to pick him up and carry the weight until he's able to get back with us.”

The D-backs placed Marte on the 10-day injured list after arriving in Miami following Sunday’s game. With Blaze Alexander already having been called up when Marte was expected to miss a few games, the team added some outfield depth in promoting Pavin Smith.

Sunday also happened to be the day that veteran infielder Luis Guillorme was released by the Angels. Guillorme had slashed .218/.285/.290 across 138 plate appearances split between the Braves and Angels this season.

Guillorme had returned to his home in Davie, Fla., which is not far from loanDepot park, to wait and see if a team would pick him up or if he would be spending the rest of the season watching on TV.

“I caught wind [Monday] that he was in the state and he was available,” Lovullo said. “And our front office does a great job of identifying certain needs, and when there's availabilities of certain players that are going to make us better, they don't hesitate. I just had to explain to [GM Mike Hazen] how he would be used, and he asked me a couple questions about our lineup and the construction, and as soon as I told him something that he wanted to hear, he went out there and executed it.”

Hazen signed Guillorme on Tuesday and asked him how long it would take for him to report. Guillorme laughed and told him he could be there in 40 minutes.

The best part of it for Guillorme is he’s back in a pennant race, something he experienced with the Mets in 2022.

“It’s great to be back in that type of baseball again,” Guillorme said.

To make room on the roster for Guillorme, Alexander was optioned to Triple-A Reno.

“Blaze is still growing and learning,” Lovullo said. “And he had a great month of April. We won some baseball games because of him. His time is coming, but he needs to go back down and learn about a few things that we talked about this afternoon in my in my hotel room, and he'll be back one day.”

Lovullo said he talked to Alexander about letting the ball travel more at the plate instead of being pull happy and working deeper counts. The latter is something the D-backs really like about Guillorme.

Defense has been at times an issue for Alexander this year, so that is another area of focus for him.

“I think prioritizing defense as much as he does offense,” Lovullo said. “He's learning that, and I think he's understanding how important that is for us. And he's solid defensively, but I just want him to work hard, as hard defensively as he does offensively, on the fundamental parts of his game.”