The Diamondbacks demoted right-hander Yoan Lopez to their alternate site after the struggling reliever was hit hard yet again on Wednesday night against the San Diego Padres.
Prior to Wednesday, Lopez had served up home runs in three consecutive games. Fernando Tatis Jr. nearly made it four in a row, but his drive to deep right was brought back by right fielder Josh Rojas, who made a jumping catch to rob a home run.
“Yoan is very close,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “He has some really good outings. If he throws 20 pitches, he throws 15 quality pitches and then gets nicked up with one or two mistakes.