Mark Melancon likely to miss start of season due to shoulder injury

Due to a shoulder injury, the Arizona Diamondbacks expect to be without veteran reliever Mark Melancon to open the season. This according to general manager Mike Hazen on Wednesday evening. The severity of the health concern is not yet clear.

Not the best way to rev up for a rebound campaign. Melancon had a tough opening season in the desert last summer. After signing a two-year free agent deal over the 2021-22 offseason, the righty posted a 4.66 ERA through 56 innings. It was his worst run prevention mark in a decade, while his 14.2% strikeout rate was his lowest since his abbreviated rookie season in 2009. His 44.1% grounder percentage was the worst of his career. The D-Backs pulled Melancon from the closing role towards the tail end of the season.

Rough 2022 campaign aside, Melancon’s track record offered some hope he could improve his results this year. He allowed fewer than four earned runs per nine innings in each of the previous four seasons, including consecutive sub-3.00 showings in 2020-21. Melancon doesn’t sport the high-octane, overpowering arsenal of most elite relievers. Yet he had consistently been successful keeping runs off the board for over a decade on the strength of pristine control and strong ground-ball numbers.

The Diamondbacks made a handful of additions to their bullpen over the winter which should help pave over Melancon's early absence. Miguel Castro, Scott McGough and Andrew Chafin all came aboard on low-cost free agent deals. Arizona also nabbed Cole Sulser off waivers from Miami. That group and in-house options like Kevin Ginkel and Joe Mantiply give skipper Torey Lovullo a little more flexibility in the late innings than he’s had in recent seasons.

Lovullo had already suggested he was prepared to take a closer by committee approach early in the year. Melancon, who has saved 262 MLB games in his career, could factor into that mix at some point. He will now first have to get healthy, with little public clarity about his overall recovery timeline.