D-backs place Madison Bumgarner on injured list, recall Jeremy Beasley

A woeful start by Madison Bumgarner on Sunday afternoon in San Diego was followed by the news that he was suffering from back spasms.

The pitcher was placed on the 10-day injured list on Monday and the Arizona Diamondbacks selected the contract of Jeremy Beasley from the alternate training site. Officially, Bumgarner was said to have a mid-back strain.

“I kind of blame myself for not removing him after the first inning, but I appreciated his toughness and I allowed him to go back out there,” manager Torey Lovullo said Monday. “I know he’s going to be fine in time.

“He has had some imaging and everything came back very positively in a very positive way.”

Bumgarner has made four starts this season and has a 9.35 ERA. He gave up five earned runs in his first two starts but 13 in his last two.

What’s more, Bumgarner’s average velocity on his four-seam fastball has dipped to 87.8, down from 91.4 last year, per MLB Statcast.

Bumgarner only pitched 17 games in 2017 and 21 games in 2018 before pitching a full season last year. He heads to the IL now in 2020 in his first year with the Diamondbacks, an already-shortened 60-game season.

Beasley, 24, came to the D-backs via a trade from the Angels for Matt Andriese in January. He had a 5.00 ERA in 26 outings (25 starts) last year between Double-A and Triple-A. He played college baseball at Clemson. This is the first time he’s been called up to MLB.

“We’re super excited for Beasley. He gets brought over from a trade, he jumps into a new organization,” Lovullo said. “We threw a bunch of new concepts on him for the original spring training, and it didn’t affect him. He’s been doing a great job at the alternate site. This is one of those great moments that as a manager we get to share as a player.

“For right now, he’s going to be coming to come out of the bullpen for us and we’re super excited for him.”

It’s unclear who will pitch when Bumgarner’s turn in the rotation comes around next time. Arizona’s relief corps features Alex Young, who started last year but has pitched in relief this year. Taylor Clark and Taylor Widener are sensible options, too.

“We are going to keep mulling over some of the names,” Lovullo said. “We have some great options here. I think that option will come from the group that’s here. That’s what we’ve been talking about so far without finalizing a name.”

Beasley was the Angels’ 30th-round selection in the 2017 MLB Draft.

The Diamondbacks face the Colorado Rockies on Monday to start a three-game series. Robbie Ray is on the mound.

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