Arizona Diamondbacks: Shelby Miller Placed on DL with Elbow Inflammation

The Arizona Diamondbacks have placed Shelby Miller, who was off to a solid start this season, on the 10-day DL.

On Monday, the Arizona Diamondbacks announced that they had placed Shelby Miller on the 10-day DL with right elbow inflammation. The club also announced that Silvino Bracho had been recalled to take his place on the 25-man roster.

The Diamondbacks first acquired Miller, who began his career with the St. Louis Cardinals, from the Atlanta Braves in December of 2015. Despite a deceiving 6-17 record, Miller had a great season with the Braves in 2015. He had a 3.02 ERA (127 ERA+), a 1.25 WHIP, pitched more than 200 innings and had a career-best 3.4 fWAR and 3.6 bWAR.

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Unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, the acquisition of Miller did not work out as well as planned in year No. 1. Through 20 starts, Miller went only 3-12 with a 6.15 ERA (73 ERA+) and a 1.67 WHIP. He also spent time on the DL with a right finger sprain amid his struggles.

This season, Miller was off to a respectable start, going 2-2 with a 4.09 ERA (108 ERA+), albeit with a slightly inflated 1.45 WHIP. On April 18, he had a great start against the San Diego Padres, allowing only one earned run over 7.1 innings of work. Miller’s most recent outing didn’t go quite as well, however. Miller left his start against the Los Angeles Dodgers after only four innings due to the injury that ultimately landed him on the DL.

Miller Is Part of a Solid D-Backs Rotation

In addition to Miller, Zack Greinke, another one of the Diamondbacks’ big additions prior to the 2016 campaign, has been rebounding from a sub-par season as well. Greinke, who is in the second season of a six-year, $206.5 million deal, currently owns a sub-3.00 ERA after five outings. Greinke won 13 games for the Diamondbacks last year, but wound up with a 4.37 ERA. By comparison, he had a 1.66 ERA in his final season with the Dodgers in 2015.

Overall, the Diamondbacks rotation, which also features Patrick Corbin, Taijuan Walker and Robbie Ray, currently ranks fourth in the NL with a 3.60 ERA.

Next: Jake Lamb shepherds D-Backs' hot start

The Diamondbacks have been a bit of a surprise team under first-year manager Torey Lovullo and currently rank second in the NL West with a 13-8 record. Although Arizona’s rotation is still very talented, the temporary loss of Miller does come as a bit of a blow. It will be interesting to see how well the D-Backs are able to hold down the fort in his absence.