Justin Martinez, Jordan Lawlar among Diamondbacks starting rehab assignments on Tuesday

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks are getting close to layering in a wave of reinforcements from the injured list, as several players are going on a rehab assignment on Tuesday, manager Torey Lovullo said.

Relief pitcher Justin Martinez (Tommy John surgery) will throw for Single-A Visalia, pitcher Michael Soroka (glute strain) will start for Triple-A Reno and outfielder Jordan Lawlar (hamstring strain) will play for Double-A Amarillo. Even left-handed pitcher Blake Walston, who underwent Tommy John surgery before the 2025 season, will pitch for Reno on Tuesday.

Martinez has not pitched in a big league game since June 2025. Lovullo said “J-Mart” will start on a Tuesday-Friday progression this week, and the club will see how he feels after that. The question of pitching back-to-back games came up.

“It’s probably a little bit of a progression,” Lovullo said. “Once he gets back here, there might be a little situation where we have to be very careful with him, knowing that he’s come back and he’s going full throttle at it. But for right now, let’s just get this first one in tomorrow, see how he feels and then build it out from there.”

Lawlar will play on Tuesday and Wednesday and get Thursday off before the team evaluates his situation. Soroka will go four innings and 65 pitches for Reno.

Meanwhile, starter Corbin Burnes (teres major strain) will restart his bullpen progression on Tuesday as he eyes an early September return. He has been throwing out to 105 feet on flat ground.

“I’ll throw a bullpen tomorrow, and it’s gonna kind of be bullpen-to-bullpen,” Burnes said. “They’re gonna see how things are feeling. … I think at the very least, it’ll be early September. I think the training staff is sick of me telling them I’ll be back sooner, but that’s my goal, to be back sooner than what they’ve got for me.”

Starter Zac Gallen (elbow inflammation) and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (adductor strain) have follow-up medical appointments to figure out next steps.

Additionally, reliever Drey Jameson (hip inflammation) will throw a simulated game on Tuesday, while outfielder Tommy Troy (AC joint sprain) is expected to play in bridge league games later this week.

There is a lot going on Tuesday when it comes to the injured Diamondbacks making important strides toward returning.

General manager Mike Hazen joined the Diamondbacks’ radio booth during Monday’s win over the San Diego Padres and outlined the possible impacts Burnes, Gallen and Ryne Nelson could have on the team in September, especially with the rosters expanding to 28 players and giving the D-backs more flexibility with the pitching staff.

Gallen is expected to be the most stretched out of the trio by that time.

“He was down the least, and then Nelly and Burns will come back, and we’ll see where they fit in, but we have a lot of off days in September, so we’ll be able to play with the rotation,” Hazen said. “We’ll be able to get an extra pitcher, so you’ll be playing with an extra guy every night. And that should afford you the ability to have a guy that can go 50 pitches instead of having a guy who’s a starter go 80-90. Then he’s gonna build up from there and by the end of the month he should be in a much better position.”

The Diamondbacks will get to that point if all goes accordingly over the next month or so. In the meantime, there is excitement over the proximity of Soroka, Lawlar and Martinez in particular getting back on the field for a team fighting for postseason positioning with less than two months of baseball left.

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