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D-backs activate Inciarte, place Saltalamacchia on DL
PHOENIX -- The Diamondbacks on Friday activated outfielder Ender Inciarte from the disabled list and placed catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia on the 15-day DL with a strained left neck.
Inciarte was out since he suffered a strained hamstring running out a groundball on June 12.
"It was a slow process. It's the first time I've been away for so long," Inciarte said before Friday's series opener against the Giants. "They were trying to go slow with me and make sure everything was going right. It took a while, more than a month. But I'm excited to be back."
Inciarte was not in the starting lineup for the first game out of the All-Star break, but manager Chip Hale said he expects Inciarte to start and lead off on Saturday.
Inciarte was hitting .287 with two home runs, 21 RBI, 39 runs scored and nine stolen bases before he was hurt against the Angels in Anaheim.
He had eight hits in 25 at-bats during a seven-game rehab assignment with Double-A Mobile and the Arizona Rookie League D-backs.
"I was giving everything I had," Inciarte said. "I was getting triples and doubles and never felt like I had to slow down and not go 100 percent. I'm feeling really good. I was playing 100 percent. I'm just happy to be back."
Saltalamacchia strained a muscle on the left side of his neck during the team's series in Texas July 7-8. He appeared only once as a pinch hitter during the team's three games against the Mets before the All-Star break.
"It just wasn't responding," Hale said.
Saltalamacchia becomes the D-backs' third catcher on the DL, joining Tuffy Gosewisch and Gerald Laird. Welington Castillo will get a greater bulk of the starts behind the plate while Saltalamacchia is out, with rookie Oscar Hernandez serving as backup. Hernandez's only major league experience is as a pinch runner July 12.
"We'll get him in there," Hale said of the Rule 5 pick who started the season on the DL. "Oscar will get some starts, that's for sure."
Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson originally was slated to start Saturday but before the break was bumped to Tuesday to give a blister on his right thumb a chance to further heal. The injury still has a ways to go, Hale said.
"I think it's getting better. It was a consideration to DL him, too," Hale said. "But the trainers felt like it will be good for Tuesday. It's still not 100 percent that he's going to be 100 percent on Tuesday."
Hale mentioned Josh Collmenter as a possibility if Hellickson cannot go against the Marlins.
After right-hander Archie Bradley did not throw a baseball for more than two weeks, he came away pleased with a throwing session on Thursday.
"It feels really good. I'm really, really pleased with the progress it's made," Bradley said of his right shoulder.
There is not a timetable for his return.
"We're going to take things a little slower than I think we'd all like," Bradley said, "but that's just a precaution to make sure it is healing and getting stronger and getting back into throwing condition."
