Diamondbacks: Oscar Hernandez Fractures Hamate

The Arizona Diamondbacks were dealt a semi-major blow on Wednesday when it was announced that catcher Oscar Hernandez had fractured his hamate and will have surgery on Thursday.

Hernandez was selected in the Rule 5 draft and was likely either to be the starting catcher for the Diamondbacks or would have been the backup catcher to Arizona State alum Tuffy Gosewisch.

More from Heat Waved

• Arizona Coyotes: Slumping Strome Shipped to Chicago
• Arizona Cardinals Paid Sam Bradford $6.75 Million Per TD Pass
• Former Arizona Basketball Star Allonzo Trier Remarkably Efficient Lately
• Arizona Coyotes: How Coach Rick Tocchet Sparked His Offense
• Arizona State Basketball Has Two Transfers Ready to Compete

As a part of the clause the Diamondbacks had with selecting him in the Rule 5 draft, Hernandez would be sent back to the Tampa Bay Rays if he was not on the Opening Day roster. With this injury, it looks like he will not be on the Opening Day roster.

After trading Miguel Montero in the offseason to the Chicago Cubs, the Diamondbacks knew that their stockpile of catchers was low and this is a huge loss in the grand scheme of things for Arizona.

Gosewisch, 31, is now the only Major League ready catcher in the organization. Gosewisch has started 41 games for the Diamondbacks across the past two seasons.

Don’t be surprised if the Diamondbacks reach out to other teams in the upcoming weeks about their backup catchers. The Diamondbacks have been linked to Dioner Navarro. Navarro, 31, is currently a member of the Toronto Blue Jays and is due $5 million this season.

In 11 big league seasons Navarro has a slash line of .255/.313/.375 and has 66 home runs and 312 RBI in 854 games. He has thrown out 28 percent of base-stealers in his career, while in comparison the league average sits at 27 percent. Navarro also made the All-Star game in 2008.

Losing Hernandez to this injury hurts, but it is not the end of the world for the Diamondbacks.