The Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday announced they reinstated shortstop Nick Ahmed from the 10-day injured list and optioned infielder Yonny Hernandez to Triple-A Reno.
Ahmed will bat sixth and start at shortstop for the D-backs against the New York Mets on Friday night at Chase Field.
“Nicky was built up to 40-45 at-bats,” manager Torey Lovullo said pregame Friday. “We felt like that was pretty close to normal spring training workload.
“But still, I want to be mindful of what he’s been going through to get to this point. He’s been working real, real hard. So he’ll play (Friday). I’ll see how he feels (Saturday). He’s not going to play every day early on. I got to be very, very careful with him. He’s an important piece of our infield puzzle.”
Ahmed has missed the first 13 games of the season due to right shoulder inflammation. The D-backs have gone 5-8 without their starting shortstop who finished last season hitting .221 with five home runs and 38 RBIs.
Hernandez hit .125 and recorded two steals over 19 at-bats (nine games) since he was called up on April 12.
Ahmed is a two-time Gold Glove recipient at shortstop and will look to take control of the new-look middle infield with Ketel Marte at second base.
The D-backs have primarily used Geraldo Perdomo, the third-ranked prospect in the organization, to fill the role in place of Ahmed, according to MLB.com.
Ahmed is in his ninth season with Arizona with one year remaining after 2022 on his contract.
With the moves, the team’s roster remains at 40 men.
INJURY UPDATES
– OF Jordan Luplow could play for the Diamondbacks right now, Lovullo said. But the manager wants to “check off a few boxes” first and is “hoping early next week” for the outfielder to help the D-backs “help us win baseball games.”
– INF Josh Rojas will take some live at-bats off live pitching in a couple of days with an eye on getting him into a game the following days after that.
– RHPs Luke Weaver and J.B. Bukauskas both played catch up to 60 feet.
The D-backs take on the New York Mets at home for a three-game home series starting Friday at 6:40 p.m. on ESPN 620 AM or 98.7 FM HD-2 Arizona’s Sports Station.