The Diamondbacks announced Gallen is dealing with elbow inflammation and will be skipped for his scheduled Sunday outing, per MLB Trade Rumors. It's the kind of update that sends fantasy managers scrambling and prop bettors pulling their tickets before first pitch.
MLB Trade Rumors broke the news that Gallen is dealing with elbow inflammation and won't start Sunday.
Timing couldn't be worse. Gallen signed a 1-year, $22.025 million deal to stay in Arizona back in February, betting on himself after rejecting a qualifying offer, and 2026 has been a disaster on the mound. He entered this year's ace of a rotation that made a deep playoff run not long ago; instead he's sitting at 3-6 with a 6.10 ERA and a bloated 1.632 WHIP through 16 starts, numbers that rank at the bottom of the league among qualified starters.
It's not the first physical scare of his season either. Gallen exited a start during the Mexico City Series earlier this year after getting hit by a comebacker, and he's now dealing with a new issue on the same throwing arm. The Diamondbacks already have Michael Soroka (glute) and Ryne Nelson (elbow) on the injured list, so losing Gallen for any real stretch thins out a rotation that's already leaning on rookies and reclamation arms to get through games.
For now the club is just calling it inflammation rather than a structural tear, which matters a lot for how worried Diamondbacks fans should be. Elbow inflammation can mean a short IL stint and a return in a couple weeks, or it can be the first domino toward a much scarier diagnosis for a guy already having his worst professional season. Either way, expect Arizona to be cautious given how little Gallen has going right in 2026 already.
Watch for the corresponding roster move and whether Gallen actually lands on the injured list, plus who takes the ball in his place Sunday. If this turns into more than a short absence, it's fair to start asking bigger questions about whether the Diamondbacks' bet on a bounce-back season is already sunk.