The Diamondbacks can't catch a break on the mound. Soroka was placed on the 15-day IL after a rough outing where he allowed 6 earned runs in just 3.1 innings, and the shoulder inflammation adds yet another name to an already thin rotation.
This isn't Soroka's first trip to the shelf this season. He'd only just returned from a lengthy IL stint for a strained glute, out from late June through early August, and had actually looked sharp in his first few starts back before this setback. Now he's right back where he started, chasing his health while the calendar creeps toward September.
Arizona signed Soroka to a one-year, $7.5 million deal with up to $2 million in incentives and a mutual option for 2027, betting that the former Braves prospect could finally stay on the mound after a brutal injury run that included 2 separate Achilles tears and limited him to just 10 total games between 2020 and 2023. The Diamondbacks needed him to be a stabilizing presence in a rotation that's been anything but this year.
That's the real problem here: Corbin Burnes and Zac Gallen are both still working back from elbow injuries and aren't expected to return until September, and Ryne Nelson is dealing with his own elbow issue. With Soroka now sidelined too, Arizona is scraping the bottom of its pitching depth chart down the stretch.
The corresponding roster moves tell the story of a franchise scrambling to patch holes. Zack Littell, who'd been shaky out of the bullpen since Arizona picked him up earlier this month, was designated for assignment after allowing 10 runs across his last 2 outings. Drey Jameson was activated off the IL after recovering from hip inflammation, and Gerardo Carrillo got the call up to fill Soroka's now-vacant roster spot.
Manager Torey Lovullo said the hope is to get Soroka back as close to Day 16 as possible, but with this much traffic on the injured list, Arizona needs its stopgap arms to hold the fort. The margin for error just got a lot smaller.