Diamondbacks’ Geraldo Perdomo suffers torn meniscus in right knee, needs surgery

Arizona Diamondbacks starting shortstop Geraldo Perdomo suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee and was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to April 4.

Perdomo is expected to miss at least a month and will need surgery, according to Nick Piecoro of azcentral.

Perdomo left Wednesday’s game against the New York Yankees in the bottom of the 10th inning after hitting a ground ball to second base. Reaching first base safely on a Yankees error, Perdomo took off for second base but had a noticeable limp as he got to the base. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said the 24-year-old hurt himself around first base. Jake McCarthy would end up pinch-running for Perdomo, who was removed from the game.

Geraldo Perdomo reaches on error by Volpe moves to 2nd .. Barrosa scores#Yankees 4 #Dbacks 3 🔽10 pic.twitter.com/awQBcVNbyh

— Sᴘᴏʀᴛs 24/7 (@Sports_24x7_) April 3, 2024

Lovullo called Perdomo day-to-day postgame Wednesday.

“He rounded the base, he’s not sure what happened,” Lovullo said Wednesday. “He just felt a lot of discomfort in his knee. I heard that and we were going to take him off the field and get him evaluated.”

Perdomo missed time in spring training with a knee issue after an awkward slide, but that was his left leg. He started the season 6-for-24 with two walks at the plate.

“He’s going to be day-to-day,” Lovullo told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Friday. “He’s not in the starting lineup but if we have to play him at some point during the day, whether it’s an emergency situation or not, we could possibly go get him. He’s improving.”

Lovullo said Perdomo is “gutting out” the issue with the hope rest improves things.

“I would say for me it’s a little bit murky right now,” the skipper said Friday. “We’re going to still get some more information. We got to see how he improves over the next couple of games.”

Perdomo broke out as Arizona’s primary shortstop in 2023, splitting time with Nick Ahmed until the latter was released in September. Perdomo made his first career All-Star team after a hot start offensively and started every postseason game. His home run in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Dodgers jump-started the four-homer inning.

He finished the year third among shortstops (minimum 100 games) in on-base percentage .353 and fifth in walks as one of the most disciplined at-bats on the team.

Blaze Alexander, who could be asked to take on a bigger role at shortstop, hit his first career home run in Wednesday’s defeat.

“Blaze is certainly in the mix and he’s going to get every lefty and some righties in the course of it,” Lovullo said. “I don’t need to guard him. I just want to give him the best matchups possible for him to have success early on in his career, let him get some footing, get some foundation.”

Alexander has started five games already and is hitting .278 with a home run.

The D-backs also selected Kevin Newman’s contract from Triple-A Reno on Sunday.

Newman has played short for Triple-A Reno this season in the wake of shortstop Jordan Lawlar’s injury, Arizona’s top prospect. Newman signed a minor-league deal after not making the team out of camp. Newman will start at second base on Sunday against the Atlanta Braves and Ketel Marte will play DH.

The D-backs also designated right-handed pitcher Corbin Martin for assignment on Sunday.

Follow @veenstra_david