J.D. Martinez getting acclimated with Diamondbacks before debut

With new slugger J.D. Martinez in the lineup, the Diamondbacks take on the Reds at 4:10 p.m. in Cincinnati. Check back throughout the game for live updates.

Martinez hit on hand by pitch

The Diamondbacks debut for J.D. Martinez didn’t last four innings. Martinez exited Wednesday night’s game against the Cincinnati Reds after being hit on the left hand by a 91 mph fastball in the top of the fourth.

Martinez tried to check his swing on an up-and-in pitch from Reds right-hander Tim Adleman but couldn’t, and the ball caught him on the left hand. Umpires ruled it a strikeout.

There was no immediate word on the extent of the injury.

Martinez, who struck out in his first at-bat, too, was acquired on Tuesday in a deal with the Detroit Tigers. The Diamondbacks gave up three infield prospects to get him and assumed the roughly $5.1 million remaining on his contract.

Martinez getting acclimated with D-Backs

A glove in one hand and a bat in the other, J.D. Martinez turned toward a coach before heading to the field at Great American Ball Park for batting practice.

“OK,” he said, “let’s do this.”

Martinez, whom the Diamondbacks acquired on Tuesday in a blockbuster deal with the Detroit Tigers, described his first afternoon with his new team as something similar to the first day of school, a collection of nerves and excitement rolled together with some disappointment over being traded from a place he never wanted to leave.

“In my heart, I was hoping that nothing would ever happen,” he said. “It did, but it’s a blessing to be here. It’s a chance to go to the playoffs. People go their whole careers and never get that chance. I’m going to – what’s the expression? – try to grab the bull by the horns and run with it.”

Manager Torey Lovullo had Martinez plugged into the No. 5 spot in the lineup, with Jake Lamb third and Paul Goldschmidt fourth. And David Peralta shifted from right field to left field to accommodate the club’s newest slugger.

Martinez said the only new teammate he knew was left-hander Robbie Ray, and he doesn’t know him well. He spent most of Wednesday getting acclimated, shaking hands and trying to get to know his new teammates. It was a little much.

“I was so overwhelmed I probably forgot about 80 percent of their names,” he said. “I’m sure as the game goes on and I see their name and their picture (on the scoreboard) I’ll start to figure it out.”

Martinez is known as a diligent student of hitting, someone who studies not only his swing but those of others around the game. He says that sort of attention to detail is what allowed him to become the hitter he is today; he reworked his swing prior to the 2014 season, the year he broke out with the Tigers as one of the more dangerous hitters in baseball.

“It’s something I love to do,” he said. “I love to look at swings. People are like, ‘You always look at swings? You don’t get tired of it?’ No, I love to do it. It’s fun to me. It’s like a puzzle you’re trying to solve.”

Lovullo tweaks lineup with Martinez on board

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said he’d been thinking recently about rearranging the top four hitters in his lineup. The arrival of J.D. Martinez felt like the right time to do it.

Lovullo’s lineup for Wednesday night’s game against the Cincinnati Reds featured David Peralta leading off and A.J. Pollock second with Jake Lamb third and Paul Goldschmidt fourth, a flip-flopping of the Nos. 1-2 and the Nos. 3-4 hitters in the lineup. He had Martinez slotted in fifth.

“You’re always looking for ways to stretch out your lineup and maybe protect guys a little differently,” Lovullo said. “It just made a lot of sense to take a look at.”

Lovullo said he liked the idea of knowing that if Goldschmidt came up in the first inning, he was doing so with a runner on base or a run already on the board. And if not, it set up well the next inning.

“If you’re 1-2-3 in the first inning, then Paul is going to be leading off and there’s a really good chance – maybe half the time – that J.D. is going to be hitting with a man on first base and nobody out,” Lovullo said. “I know that could yield a run or a big inning.”

It’s the first time Peralta was in the leadoff spot since 2014. Goldschmidt hadn’t started a game anywhere but the No. 3 hole all season, though he’s hit cleanup 97 times in his career, including 11 times last season.

“Does it change things a tremendous amount? I don’t know,” Lovullo said. “I think when you look at on-base percentage and guys leading off innings and run-producing moments, I thought mechanically this would maximize a couple of different moments in a couple of different ways.”

Fuentes lands on DL with thumb injury

To clear room on the roster for Martinez, outfielder Rey Fuentes was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a left thumb contusion, an injury manager Torey Lovullo said occurred in Fuentes’ final at-bat on Tuesday night.

“I guess he got jammed in his final at-bat and he just felt like there was some discomfort today,” Lovullo said. “We felt like it made a lot of sense to get him evaluated.”

Lovullo said Fuentes would return to Phoenix and visit hand specialist Dr. Don Sheridan.

With Martinez’s addition, Fuentes looked to be the odd-man out on the roster. He does not have minor league options remaining.

Fuentes homered in his second-to-last at-bat on Tuesday, driving a three-run shot out to right field to put the Diamondbacks ahead 11-2.

“He’s been a very capable backup and he’s gotten some starts and gotten some meaningful hits for us,” Lovullo said. “It’s kind of unfortunate but we’ll get him rested and moving in the right direction from a health standpoint.”

Wednesday’s lineup

The Diamondbacks welcome J.D. Martinez to the team Wednesday after trading for the former Tigers slugger on Tuesday.

Martinez is scheduled to bat fifth and start in right field against the Reds.

Wednesday’s game

When: 4:10 p.m.

Where: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati.

Pitchers: Diamondbacks RHP Zack Greinke (11-4, 2.86) vs. Reds RHP Tim Adleman (5-7, 4.99).

TV/Radio: FSAZ/KTAR-AM (620), KHOV-FM (105.1).

Greinke will be making his first start since the All-Star break. He also faced the Reds the last time out, when he threw seven scoreless innings, with one walk and seven strikeouts, in a start at Chase Field on July 7. … He’s given up just three runs in 19 innings (1.42 ERA) in his past three starts. … He has made seven starts at Great American Ball Park in his career, posting a 2.30 ERA. … Adleman has thrown five or fewer innings in five consecutive starts, allowing 19 earned runs in 24 1/3 innings in that stretch. … The Diamondbacks scored four runs (three earned) in five innings off him on July 7. … Adleman has allowed the third-most home runs in the National League with 21. 

Martinez trade buoys D-Backs

CINCINNATI – In the visitors’ clubhouse minutes before the game, the Diamondbacks got word their front office had acquired perhaps the best slugger available on the trade market, landing J.D. Martinez in a deal with the Detroit Tigers.

They then proceeded to wallop the Cincinnati Reds 11-2, watching their offense break out for the first time in weeks to help snap a five-game losing streak. Third baseman Jake Lamb, tongue firmly planted in his cheek, declared it the beginning of the J.D. Martinez Era.

In recent weeks, the Diamondbacks had not looked like a potent bunch. They had essentially stopped hitting with men in scoring position. They were seemingly unable to do damage against left-handed pitching. They were in a funk and they couldn’t seem to find their way out.

That changed, however, on Tuesday night against the Reds, owners of the worst pitching staff in baseball. The Diamondbacks broke through in record fashion. Never before had a Diamondbacks team collected six extra-base hits in a single inning like they did in the fifth. And never had nine different Diamondbacks hitters contributed extra-base hits.

READ THE STORY: D-Backs crush Reds, ‘amped up’ for Martinez

Coming up

Thursday: At Cincinnati, 9:35 a.m., Diamondbacks RHP Taijuan Walker (6-4, 3.61) vs. Reds RHP Luis Castillo (1-2, 3.41).

Friday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Patrick Corbin (6-9, 4.66) vs. Nationals RHP Max Scherzer (11-5, 2.01).

Saturday: At Chase Field, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zack Godley (3-4, 3.09) vs. Nationals RHP Tanner Roark (7-6, 4.98).

MORE D-BACKS: Your Take: Did D-Backs steal Martinez from Tigers?

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MOORE: Martinez trade a statement move by D-Backs’ GM Hazen