D-backs injury notes: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. considered day-to-day with hip contusion

Outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was held out of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ lineup Thursday for their series opener against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

He exited Wednesday’s 9-7 win over the Colorado Rockies with a left hip contusion, the team announced, and manager Torey Lovullo told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo that Gurriel is considered day-to-day.

Lovullo said Gurriel suffered a sizable contusion on his left thigh after sliding into home plate Tuesday night in an 8-5 comeback victory at Coors Field.

Second baseman Ketel Marte was also out of Thursday’s lineup for rest.

“Coming out of Colorado, there were going to be a lot of guys getting days off,” Lovullo said on Thursday. “Just getting guys back and grounded on their feet after the altitude is one thing and then Gurriel obviously needed a little more rest. Hopefully he’ll be back in there tomorrow and is day-to-day.”

San Diego’s Thursday starter, Rich Hill, allowed a home run to Gurriel on July 7.

Gurriel has hits in 13 of his last 16 games with three doubles and four home runs. His .990 OPS in August is second on the team behind Christian Walker’s 1.206.

The D-backs and Padres are separated by three games in the National League Wild Card race ahead of their four-game series. Arizona won two of three games against San Diego at Chase Field last weekend.

Will Zach Davies return to the D-backs rotation?

D-backs starting pitcher Zach Davies made a second rehab start on Tuesday and allowed seven earned runs on 11 hits in three innings for Triple-A Reno.

Lovullo said Davies is ready to return physically after landing on the 15-day injured list with lower back inflammation last month but was not ready to announce whether or not the Diamondbacks plan to reinsert Davies into the starting rotation.

The rotation is short with Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Brandon Pfaadt. Slade Cecconi made a pair of short starts and has appeared out of the bullpen.

“We know what (Davies) did in Reno, we got all the data, we got the information, we got a bird’s eye view from the coaches that were there, the scouts that were in the stands,” Lovullo said. “We’re going to come up with a game plan that we’re still developing.”

Arizona called up pitching prospect Bryce Jarvis over the weekend, and he had been a starter in the minors until recently converting into a reliever to help with the club’s bullpen. Jarvis allowed one run in three innings with three strikeouts during his MLB debut on Tuesday.

“He was a starting pitcher his whole career and then we put him into the bullpen because of the necessity and then all of a sudden our starting pitching kind of backed up on us,” Lovullo said. “We still feel like we have good starting pitching depth that’s still developing in our system.”

Arizona is still without left-handed starter Tommy Henry on the 15-day injured list (left elbow inflammation).

Evan Longoria update

The D-backs sent Evan Longoria on a rehab assignment to Triple-A Reno. The veteran third baseman was placed on the 10-day IL (back strain) on July 29.

Diamondbacks bullpen shakeup

The Diamondbacks optioned right-handed reliever Luis Frias on Thursday and replaced him with fellow right-hander Justin Martinez.

Frias threw 49 pitches across two appearances on Tuesday and Wednesday in Colorado.

The 25-year-old entered the seventh inning on Tuesday with a 3-2 lead and surrendered three runs, including a two-run homer to Brenton Doyle. On Wednesday, he faced three batters and walked the first two to load the bases. He struck out Austin Wynns to end the inning and keep what was a 3-2 deficit intact.

Frias had not allowed a run in his last nine innings ahead of the Rockies series and has a 5.71 ERA in 16 games this season.

Martinez returns to the majors for a third time this year after he was optioned on July 22. He has allowed one earned run in six innings of work for Reno in August with 10 strikeouts and six walks.

The 22-year-old flamethrower has allowed seven earned runs in 3.1 innings with Arizona this season, four of which came on a grand slam vs. the Cincinnati Reds.

His fastball has averaged 100.3 mph in the bigs this year.

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