The Diamondbacks announced that outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. Infielder Luis Guillorme has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Gurriel landed on the 10-day IL at the start of the month due to a strained left calf. Before landing on the shelf, he had been producing at a rate a bit above league average. He has 17 home runs, a batting line of .274/.316/.428 and a 104 wRC+. He also has seven stolen bases and solid defensive metrics, leading to a tally of 1.8 wins above replacement on the year, per FanGraphs.
Getting that kind of production back is nice for the Snakes, assuming he can pick up where he left off, though manager Torey Lovullo might have to make some tough decisions in setting his lineup every day. Pavin Smith has been covering left field with Gurriel out and has a massive .296/.378/.591 line and 161 wRC+ on the year. Moving either to right field isn’t an option, as Corbin Carroll has picked things up after a weak start to the year. He was hitting .197/.282/.291 through the end of May, but .254/.344/.520 since the latter line led to a 135 wRC+.
Joc Pederson is hitting well out of the designated hitter slot. Like Christian Walker at first base, Jake McCarthy plays well in center. Solid players like Josh Bell and Randal Grichuk are already getting little playing time, and the return of Gurriel will further crowd things, though that’s a good problem for the Snakes to have as they look to lock down a playoff spot in the season’s final days. They are currently 85-68, tied with the Mets for the second and third wild-card spots. The Padres are two games up on that pair, while Atlanta is two games back.
Guillorme was signed to the roster a month ago while Ketel Marte was injured. Since then, he has appeared in 18 games and hit .162/.347/.216. Marte was reinstated from the IL on Sept. 6 and served as the designated hitter for a couple of games but has since retaken his spot at the keystone, cutting into Guillorme’s playing time. Guillorme has over five years of big-league service time and can’t be optioned without his consent, so he has now been bumped off the roster entirely.
He’ll be placed on waivers in the coming days. He won’t be playoff-eligible with any other club at this point, which limits any appeal of claiming him. He had a solid run as a utility guy for the Mets not too long ago, hitting a combined .278/.367/.344 over the 2020-22 seasons. But he hit just .224/.288/.327 last year and got himself non-tendered. This year, he has bounced between Atlanta, Anaheim and Arizona with a line of .205/.301/.273 in 79 games. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, though perhaps he would consider accepting just in case Marte suffers an injury again and some postseason playing time opens up.
