CHICAGO -- The Diamondbacks made a flurry of roster moves Saturday with the most notable being the placement of left-hander A.J. Puk on the 15-day injured list with left elbow inflammation.
In addition, Arizona optioned right-hander Bryce Jarvis and lefty Joe Mantiply to Triple-A Reno while recalling right-hander Drey Jameson and selecting the contracts of right-handers J.P. Feyereisen and Juan Morillo.
To make room on the 40-man roster, infielder Grae Kessinger was designated for assignment.
Morillo and Feyereisen both got into Saturday¡¯s 6-2 loss to the Cubs. Morillo, making his big league debut, allowed a walk while striking out two in a scoreless inning while Feyereisen also worked a scoreless inning, allowing one hit.
Puk, who was sharing the closer role with right-hander Justin Martinez, said that his elbow starting feeling tight during his outing Wednesday night against the Marlins in Miami. The veteran had Tommy John surgery on his elbow in 2018 and wanted to be cautious about letting the team know this time around.
Puk will stay with the Diamondbacks through the weekend, then will have an MRI taken in Phoenix.
¡°I guess we'll find out with the imaging,¡± Puk said of his concern level. ¡°You know, right now, I can't really do much. It's been responding well to treatment as of right now, everything's kind of loosening up, and so we¡¯ll just see what the imaging says and what the doctor says.¡±
The Diamondbacks had decided by Friday morning to place Puk on the IL and had Jameson en route to Chicago to replace him.
Jameson had Tommy John surgery toward the end of the 2023 season and missed all of 2024 while rehabbing from it. He was impressive this spring but given that he missed last season entirely, Arizona wanted to use him as a reliever in 2025.
Given that relievers often have to throw back-to-back games and with an unpredictable schedule, the Diamondbacks sent Jameson to Reno to open the season and allow him to continue to pitch on a more regular schedule.
At the time he was sent down, Jameson said he was disappointed in the decision. But after he dealt with minor soreness in Reno, he realized that the Diamondbacks made the right decision in sending him down.
¡°I thought I was ready, obviously, earlier,¡± Jameson said. ¡°But that¡¯s just me not knowing the full sense because then I went to Reno and had a little hiccup. Ultimately, I think they know more than I know.¡±
As for the other roster moves, they were necessitated after Friday¡¯s wild series-opening game against the Cubs.
Puk obviously was unavailable to close out that game, and so were Martinez and Jalen Beeks, who had each pitched two out of the three prior days. That left it to Mantiply and Jarvis to try and navigate the seventh and eighth innings -- and both struggled as the Cubs scored 11 runs over those two frames and went on to win, 13-11.
The Diamondbacks needed fresh arms and are going to get that in Feyereisen and Morillo.
Feyereisen, 32, has pitched in parts of four seasons in the big leagues and was signed as a free agent by the Diamondbacks on March 15.
Morillo, 26, was signed as a Minor League free agent in the offseason by the Diamondbacks after he spent seven years in the Dodgers organization.
A non-roster invite to camp, Morillo impressed the Diamondbacks with his stuff in Spring Training and in six innings for Reno, he had a 1.42 ERA.
¡°He looked great in Spring Training, he¡¯s thrown the ball well in Reno,¡± Arizona GM Mike Hazen said. ¡°He¡¯s got a huge arm. The strike throwing has been the thing [to improve on].¡±