James McCann hits two-run homer in loss

Del Castillo returns to the big leagues as emergency catching depth behind James McCann after Gabriel Moreno suffered a minor hamstring injury during Friday’s win over the Padres.

McCann smacked a run-scoring single off of Tanner Gordon in the fourth inning that increased the Diamondbacks’ lead to 10-0. He then ambushed a first-pitch slider from Jimmy Herget in the sixth inning and crushed a 401-foot (108.7-mph EV) solo shot that made it a 12-1 ballgame. With his two-hit attack, the 36-year-old catcher is now hitting .286/.316/.449 with six homers and 26 RBI on the season.

This is apparently a planned day off for Marte, who was just activated from the injured list on Monday with a knee injury. Marte had been the DH for the first two games of the series, so Gabriel Moreno will take that spot today with James McCann catching.

It seems like a routine day off for Moreno. James McCann will start behind the dish, and Nolan Arenado will DH with Jose Fernandez playing third base.

It sounds like Moreno is headed to the paternity list. The 26-year-old backstop will likely be away from the club for a couple days. It’ll be James McCann taking over behind the plate.

The Diamondbacks blew a 6-0 lead between the eighth and ninth, but they pulled the game out in the end. Both teams scored one run in the 10th and zero runs in the 11th before McCann singled in the automatic runner in the 12th. Gerardo Carrillo then pitched his second scoreless frame to maintain the 8-7 lead and pick up his first win as a major leaguer. McCann’s four-hit game was the fourth of his career; he had one each in 2016, 2019 and 2021. He’s been on an incredible roll since coming off the injured list earlier this month, going 12-for-22 with three homers and 10 RBI. Still, he’s played in just six of 19 games during that span. Maybe the team will begin giving him the occasional DH start against lefties until he cools off.

McCann isn’t playing much with Gabriel Moreno healthy and producing, but he’s gone 7-for-15 with three homers and eight RBI in four games since coming off the injured list on July 6. The D-backs used both catchers today, with Moreno DHing, and will probably keep that up from time to time until McCann cools off.

Yep, that James McCann. He cemented the blowout with a three-run homer off Yoshinobu Yamamoto — yep, that’s Yoshinobu Yamamoto — and he added another with a solo shot against Landon Knack. McCann is not in Arizona for his offense, and while this was an impressive effort, it’s impossible to predict any sort of consistent replication.

McCann returns to Arizona’s catching mix as starter Gabriel Moreno’s backup following a nearly seven-week absence recovering from a quad strain that put him on the injured list back in late May. He showed some signs of life in his Diamondbacks debut last year and should be able to stick around in a reserve role for now.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said McCann is likely to miss 4-6 weeks after suffering a quad strain during Monday’s series opener against the Giants. It’s less of an issue for Arizona with Gabriel Moreno back from the injured list than it would’ve been earlier this year when he was sidelined.