D-backs place Pollock on DL, call up Fuentes from Reno
PHOENIX -- The Diamondbacks placed center fielder A.J. Pollock on the 10-day disabled list Monday with a strained right groin and selected the contract of outfielder Reymond Fuentes from the Triple-A Reno Aces.
To make room for Fuentes on the 40-man roster, relief pitcher Enrique Burgos was designated for assignment.
Pollock, the D-backs' leadoff hitter, injured his groin while running out a single in the 10th inning of Sunday's 6-4 loss to the Pirates. He is hitting .299 with 11 stolen bases and 26 runs scored. He battled a groin injury last September -- after returning from a broken elbow -- and again in spring training.
The diagnosis was a Grade 1 strain, the least severe. No timetable was set for his return, but Pollock said it "is not a significant injury by any means" and called the test results "good news."
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Pollock and manager Torey Lovullo, speaking before Monday night's game against the New York Mets, said the injury is less severe than the left groin strain that ended Pollock's season three weeks early last year.
He said this injury feels "very similar" to the one he had in the other groin a year ago.
"I'm going to go after this thing," Pollock said. "The trainers are real positive about it, and so am I. I couldn't tell you which day, but I'm sure I'll be feeling pretty good in the next couple of days and I'll be running around pretty soon."
Lovullo said Pollock will not be rushed back.
"When he returns," the manager said, "he's going to be 100 percent. He's going to be ahead of this injury and ready to contribute at the level he was contributing prior to the injury."
Pollock, an All-Star and Gold Glove recipient in 2015, missed nearly all of last season after breaking his elbow on a headfirst slide into home plate in an exhibition game two days before the opener.
He returned late in the season but played only 12 games before the groin injury.
Fuentes was the 28th overall pick, by the Boston Red Sox, in the 2009 amateur draft.
Lovullo said Fuentes would share center field duties with Gregor Blanco. Fuentes was in the lineup Monday night against the Mets, batting in Pollock's usual leadoff position.
Fuentes was batting .376 for the Aces, fourth-best in the Pacific Coast League. He was hitting .471 in his last 21 games and was 15 for 25 in his last six games.
He was signed by the Diamondbacks as a free agent in the offseason.
The 26-year-old Fuentes has been in four organizations and hasn't yet fulfilled the promise he showed as a high draft pick. But Lovullo said some players mature more quickly than others, and Fuentes has all the tools needed to succeed in the majors.
Fuentes has appeared in 36 games over two major league seasons with San Diego (2013) and Kansas City (2016), batting .243 with six RBIs.
Burgos, 26, has a 1-1 record, a 6.23 ERA, 11 walks and 13 strikeouts at Reno in 13 innings. He appeared in 73 games for the Diamondbacks in 2015-16, recording a 3-4 record with three saves and a 5.27 ERA. He had 82 strikeouts and 38 walks in 68 1/3 innings.
