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With Ahmed Out, What should the Back-up Shortstop Plan Be?

By Michael Ballentine

Arizona Diamondbacks v Colorado Rockies
Arizona Diamondbacks v Colorado Rockies / Dustin Bradford/GettyImages
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According to Steve Gilbert, Ahmed has been dealing with soreness in his right shoulder, the same injury that hampered him throughout the 2021 season and caused him to miss the final two weeks. He has recently received both a platelet-rich plasma injection as well as a cortisone injection. Neither of them have alleviated it. Ahmed said a recent MRI did not yield a clear diagnosis and he is going to continue his rehab for now. The injury bothers him more hitting than it does throwing.

I don't know about you, but that does not sound encouraging. He has had this same injury since last season, and instead of having surgery to repair it, Nick decided to rehab it. He reported to Spring Training with the same injury and now (I do realize that he could not speak with the team during the lockout) it is not any better. He finally had an MRI, but it was inconclusive and now less than two weeks before Opening Day he is getting a second opinion and is continuing the rehab that has not worked so far. Yea, that about sums it up.

Is Sergio Alcantara the answer? Not unless you are fine with a guy who grades less defensively at short than Nick and batted .205/.303/.327 with five homers and 17 RBIs in Chicago last year for the Cubs. In other words.......NO!

Geraldo Perdomo
Los Angeles Dodgers v Arizona Diamondbacks / Norm Hall/GettyImages

What about prospect Geraldo Perdomo? Well, first of all he is only 22 years old. He has been in the minors since 2017, and we all know he lost significant playing because of COVID. To give you some numbers for his minor league career, he has had 1130 total at bats (minus his 218 walks, but only striking out 230 times) with 117 total RBI's, 14 home runs, 15 triples, 39 doubles and a .267 average. This spring he has had 19 at bats with 3 hits 5 RBI's and is batting .158. I won't say he is ready, his numbers don't say he is ready, but he is a better option than Alcantara.

But, what I suggest is making a trade with a team that needs to shed some payroll, who has some good young players, and can reunite us with an old friend. Click next and get the details.

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