D-backs place Jake Lamb on injured list, recall Ildemaro Vargas

The Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday placed infielder Jake Lamb on the 10-day injured list with a left quadriceps strain.

Infielder Ildemaro Vargas, who made the D-backs’ Opening Day roster, was recalled from Triple-A Reno to take Lamb’s place.

Lamb suffered the injury while running the bases in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s game against the San Diego Padres.

Manager Torey Lovullo said Friday that Lamb could miss six weeks, but the timeline for his return could be less or more than that. Christian Walker and Wilmer Flores are expected to see time at first in Lamb’s absence.

“Obviously I’m bummed, it sucks,” Lamb said. “Grade 2 quad strain, it is what it is, man. I wasn’t sure how bad it was going to be. I’ve never felt anything like that before, so they said around six weeks. Who knows. It might be quicker, it might be later than that. But back to just taking it day by day and working to get back on the field.”

The injury is a setback for Lamb, who was hoping to regain form from his 2017 All-Star season. In 2018, he only played 56 games and hit just .222. He particularly struggled against lefties, batting .170.

This season, he has four hits in 15 at-bats, good for a .267 average. He also has two RBIs.

“It’s really frustrating,” Lamb said. “I mean it was the beginning of the season, I was just getting my feet wet, back to playing, feeling like I’m part of the team, being out there every day. But like I said: It is what it is, you can’t dwell on that, you’ve got to take care of business and rehabbing.”

Lamb said he’s moving well already, but when he first returned to Phoenix after the flight from San Diego, he could barely walk.

“I feel fine, now. I can pretty much do everything,” Lamb said. “Just got to get the swelling down and all that stuff, and then go from there.”

Meanwhile, Vargas is not in the D-backs’ starting lineup for Friday’s home opener against the Boston Red Sox.

He’s expected to play a utility infield role in Lamb’s absence. Vargas has one hit in six at-bats this season.

Lamb is already the fourth D-backs player to go down with an injury this season, joining Steven Souza Jr., T.J. McFarland and Silvino Bracho.

“I learned a lot last year, how to deal with frustrating times like this, and you’ve just got to take it day by day and stay positive, and honestly put more focus on the team and just focus on doing anything I can, whether it’s moral support, vocal support, whatever to help the guys and kind of get my mind off my injury and feeling bad about myself and my situation.”

Matt Layman of 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station contributed to this story.

Follow @DannyShapiro13