Diamondbacks third baseman Jake Lamb shut down with elbow tendinitis

After it looked like Jake Lamb could be targeting a return to the Diamondbacks as soon as Tuesday, manager Torey Lovullo announced after Sunday’s game that the third baseman has right elbow tendinitis and will be shut down until further evaluation.

Before Sunday’s game against the Padres, there was no indication Lamb was dealing with an ailment. But after the game, Lovullo revealed the 27-year-old underwent an MRI on Saturday night that found inflammation in his right elbow.

Lovullo said that Lamb, who is rehabbing from a left shoulder injury suffered on April 3, will be evaluated again on Wednesday. Earlier on Sunday, Lovullo had said Lamb would be evaluated later that day to “make sure he feels good and is cleared by the medical team and (so) we can target a date.”

Lamb will not travel with the Diamondbacks to Philadelphia.

“For me, this is a no-brainer to give him a little rest,” Lovullo said. “He’s just too important to this ball club to force anything. We’re going to use this time wisely over the next couple days to let him recuperate.

“We want to make sure he’s comfortable and 100 percent healthy. If we have to wait a little bit more time to reassess this, we’re going to do that.”

According to Lovullo, the injury is not something that crept up as recently as this weekend.

“It’s been a few days,” Lovullo said. “He’s been on a collision course with returning as fast as possible. I feel like through his intensity and work habits and the good things he’s doing to get here as quickly as possible, this may have caught up to him.”

Souza begins throwing

Diamondbacks outfielder Steven Souza Jr. began what is likely the final step of his rehab on Sunday – throwing a baseball.

It sounds simple, but throwing has been an obstacle for Souza since suffering a strained right pectoral late in spring training. He experienced a setback 10 days ago when he began throwing for the first time since the injury.

Lovullo said he didn’t watch Souza throw on Sunday, but he got the indication that everything was going smoothly.

“He had a light throwing program,” Lovullo said. “I haven’t had a report on how it’s going. I know he’s probably being evaluated (Sunday afternoon). When I passed through, it seemed to be going well.

“There were conversations, a little stoppage, and then he kept going.”

The fact that Souza apparently continued to throw after a stoppage certainly bodes well for his recovery timeline. Lovullo said he has “no limitations” at the plate.

The outfielder will likely play games at extended spring training this week before the Diamondbacks consider activating him. Souza is still waiting to make his team debut.

“We’re hoping there’s good news through today,” Lovullo said. “Today was the first day he’s throwing in (10 days). Hopefully, if we get the news that he feels good, we’ll take the next step forward. There’s a strategy to what’s happening, but today was a big day.”

Delgado shut down

Despite throwing a bullpen session on Saturday at Chase Field, right-hander Randall Delgado has been shut down from his current rehab process, Lovullo said.

“Randall has been pulled off of his rehab,” Lovullo said. “We’re going to have him down for seven days of (no throwing). He feels good, and obviously there was a drop in velocity that was a concern that we had. So we’re going to shut him down.”

Lovullo said that team doctors found no injury to Delgado, but the drop in the pitcher’s velocity was enough for the team to shut him down for the next week.

Delgado, who is coming off an arm injury as well as an oblique strain, told reporters on Saturday that he feels perfectly healthy.

Having not pitched in a live game since last season, Delgado will likely need several rehab appearances before he is activated.

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