Clarity on extent of Greinke injury unlikely before Friday
PHOENIX -- The Zack Greinke oblique watch will remain on high alert until Friday.
Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said before Wednesday's day game with the Phillies that it's too soon to tell how badly Greinke is injured or how much time, if any, he'll miss.
The team has Thursday off, so some clarity should be coming prior to Friday night's game vs. the Giants.
"(We'll) see how he comes in and if he's able to throw," Hale said. "If he's not able to throw, there's no way he can make his next start."
Greinke's next scheduled start is Monday against San Diego, but Thursday's off day provides some flexibility in the rotation. Wednesday's starter, Archie Bradley, could pitch on Monday. With another off-day a week from Thursday and the four-day All-Star Break the following week, the D-backs could conceivably put Greinke on the 15-day disabled list and need a fifth starter for only one game.
"Let's go there when we have to go there," Hale said.
Greinke believes he tweaked the left oblique (a large abdominal muscle in the rib cage area) taking an off-balance swing in the second inning of Tuesday night's 4-3 loss to the Phillies.
He began warming up for the third inning, returned to the dugout for some warming gel, attempted three more warmup pitches before it was decided to cut his night short.
"When I went back out I realized it wasn't something that heat would make better," Greinke said afterward. "Something was wrong and at the time I didn't know if it was a good idea or not, to do what we did. Afterwards, it was the right move. More than likely, I would have hurt myself a lot worse."
That's Hale's primary concern as well.
"It's important to remember that the best thing for the team is for him to pitch as many games a season as he can," Hale said. "There's no way we would every push him.
"That's not an injury for a pitcher or even a hitter that's easy to get over."