Arizona Diamondbacks: Derrick Hall gives injury updates on #DHallChat

Arizona Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall answered questions from fans live on Twitter including providing updates on several injured players and his wife’s battle with breast cancer.

On Thursday, Arizona Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall hosted his monthly #DHallChat. This time around, Hall held the live Q&A on Twitter, taking questions from fans.

Many of those questions included asking for updates on several players on the DL.

First and foremost, Robbie Ray. After being hit by a line drive, Ray has been on the concussion protocol DL, which is normally only ten days.

“Robbie’s doing terrific. I mean it’s it’s the best case scenario for us, I mean what a scary sight that was,” Hall said. “He’s followed the concussion protocol to a tee. He hasn’t had any setbacks He feels great.”

More from Diamondbacks News

• What is the Rule 5 Draft? How does it impact Diamondbacks?
• Former Diamondbacks SP Robbie Ray wins AL CY Young!
• Bannister the bench coach, yet another great hire by the Diamondbacks
• The king of Chase Field should be signed by the Diamondbacks
• The Goat has come to the Diamondbacks to save the day

Hall also mentioned that Ray is pitching again, but the Diamondbacks staff wants him to face live batting before he takes the mound in a Major League game.

“I expect Robbie to be right back where he was pretty soon,” Hall said. “He’s doing great.”

There is no timetable to Ray’s return.

Nick Ahmed should return soon as well. Hall said that Ahmed is arguably a top five ranked defensive shortstop in all of baseball, which would be beneficial for the Diamondbacks to have back on the field.

“He’s progressing really well. He’s been finally throwing, he’s been hitting,” Hall said. “So he’s probably still three four weeks away but we need him back.”

With Ahmed’s extended time on the DL with a right hand injury, the Diamondbacks quickly found themselves short on middle infielders.

Ketel Marte had a brief stint on the bereavement list due to the untimely death of his mother, while Chris Owings was taken out of the season with a fractured finger in his right hand.

Both Owings and Ahmed were struck with fastballs over 90 mph by St. Louis Cardinals Lance Lynn and Trevor Rosenthal, respectively. The injuries occurred over a month apart.

“It’s amazing how quick we went from a surplus of middle infielders and shortstops and second baseman to the injuries that we’ve had now with Nick and Chris,” Hall said. “It’s good that we’ve had the depth now with with Marte and bringing Rosales over has helped and Descalso’s been terrific and Drury, but it would certainly be nice to have Nick back.”

For starter Shelby Miller, the outlook is positive, but the timetable for his return is much longer after undergoing Tommy John earlier in the season.

“It takes time, a year and a half at least, but he’s hitting all the milestones where he should be. No setbacks,” Hall said.

Hall explained that during a season like the Diamondbacks are having, it’s easy to forget that they lost the No. 2 or 3 pitcher in their rotation. But, he’s glad the team stepped up together.

“It was good to have Robbie step up and we can’t wait to have Robbie back, but all of our guys have really stepped up,” Hall said. “Banda has stepped up when he needed to going against Bumgarner, which is a tough task. We heard about Godley…he has stepped up, everybody has.”

The rotation has provided depth that Hall said most people didn’t think the team had. However, he said that it would still be nice to see the Diamondbacks at full strength.

Hall’s wife, Amy Hall, has almost finished with her current chemotherapy treatment for triple-negative breast cancer.

“It’s been a long time, over a year in treatment and about two more months left of the chemo drug that she’s on now,” Hall said. “She’s doing great, she’s not having any side effects from that. Her hair is growing back.”

Hall said that his wife watches every game and has enjoyed watching the Diamondbacks win.

“I wanna win as much for her as for all of our fans…it brings great joy in her life.”