Reliever A.J. Puk out for rest of 2025, Gabriel Moreno has finger fracture as injury woes continue

Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher A.J. Puk will miss the rest of the season after undergoing left elbow surgery with Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Friday, manager Torey Lovullo told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo.

Additionally, Lovullo said starting catcher Gabriel Moreno suffered a hairline fracture in his right pointer finger and will miss weeks, not days.

Puk spent the past two months attempting to recover from and rehab a flexor tendon strain. He visited ElAttrache, a renowned orthopedic surgeon, on Thursday after stepping back from his throwing program. Puk, who landed on the injured list on April 19, had thrown out to 120 feet but felt discomfort before halting his progression. He had yet to get back on the mound.

Puk received Tommy John surgery back in 2018 when he was a prospect with the Oakland Athletics, and he revisited the procedure on Friday using the brace method.

The left-hander entered this season as one of Arizona’s co-closers based on matchups with Justin Martinez. Martinez is out for the year as he recovers from elbow surgery, a revision procedure with a brace as he had undergone Tommy John surgery in 2021.

The Diamondbacks acquired Puk ahead of the 2024 trade deadline from the Miami Marlins, shipping out prospects Deyvison De Los Santos and Andrew Pintar. Puk went on a dominant run as a high-leverage reliever in Arizona, the best of his career as he worked a 1.32 ERA in 30 games after the trade (including 25 straight scoreless efforts).

Puk made only eight appearances this season before hitting the IL. He picked up four saves with a 3.38 ERA and 12 strikeouts.

He will become a free agent following the 2026 season, his age-31 campaign.

D-backs manager Torey Lovullo provides @BurnsAndGambo a pair of tough injury updates on Gabriel Moreno and A.J. Puk.

The Torey Lovullo Show is brought to you by Estrella Jalisco. pic.twitter.com/mH2QV30lyd

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) June 20, 2025

Gabriel Moreno and Adrian Del Castillo injured

The D-backs placed Moreno on the 10-day IL with a “right hand contusion” on Thursday and selected catcher Aramis Garcia. Moreno went back to Phoenix for additional imaging, which revealed the fracture. Moreno played three games since initially injuring his hand on June 6 in Cincinnati when he took a wild pitch off his bare right hand.

He even crushed a home run last week against Seattle while nursing an ailing finger.

“He was doing that with a broken finger, that’s hard to do,” Lovullo said. “And the way the ball’s coming in there, the velocity coming in there, he would block out that pain. High pain threshold. And he got some big hits.”

Lovullo said the fracture is just below the knuckle.

Moreno this season in slashing .270/.324/.414 with five home runs and his typical strong defense.

Diamondbacks catching prospect Adrian Del Castillo also landed on the injured list with Triple-A Reno, farm director Chris Slivka told Arizona Sports.

He started to feel lower back discomfort, but the organization is hopeful for a short-term IL stint.

Del Castillo was scratched from Tuesday’s lineup in Reno. He had only played five games since returning from a shoulder injury.

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