After playing two rehab games with Triple-A Reno over the weekend, Diamondbacks outfielder Jarrod Dyson revealed to the club he’s dealing with some discomfort related to his lower core injury, manager Torey Lovullo said on Tuesday.

Dyson suffered the injury on July 4 and only just returned to game action on Friday. Across two games with the Aces, Dyson logged six plate appearances and registered a hit, a walk and a stolen base.

Lovullo said that Dyson returned from his rehab stint on Monday for an examination with team doctors after feeling the discomfort. Lovullo says that Dyson will now be examined by outside doctors to determine the severity of the setback.

Lovullo added that he’s not sure when Dyson started feeling the discomfort, but said he “knows for a fact” that Dyson would not have played on Sunday if he was in pain following Friday’s game.

“There was a little discomfort and he played a couple games in a row so we expected that.” Lovullo said. “As a result, we’re going to let some more doctors take a look at him. He’s in the process of being evaluated – not only by our medical team here – but we’re going to let some other doctors take a look at him.”

Lovullo said that as of now it doesn’t seem as though Dyson will have to undergo any further scans and that the Diamondbacks have all the images of the affected area they need. Lovullo said he expects to have an update on Dyson’s status by Thursday.

Although Lovullo didn’t sound overly concerned about the newest development in Dyson’s recovery, it certainly raises the question as to whether Dyson’s history with core issues is to blame for his current setback.

Dyson was a late addition by the Diamondbacks, who signed the speedy outfielder to a two-year, $7.5 million deal in February. At first, it didn’t seem as though the sports hernia surgery he underwent in September 2017 had taken a toll on his game.

“It was a pretty straightforward procedure,” General Manager Mike Hazen said in April of Dyson’s surgery. “And then once we went through the medical process and the physical, we didn’t have any concerns. We felt like he was fully healthy.”

Still, given the severity of the injury and subsequent procedure, the investment was littered with risk. Dyson appeared in just 67 games and managed a .187 batting average before again injuring his lower core in July.

Without question, the biggest part of Dyson’s game is his speed both on the basepaths and as a defender in the outfield. That may play a part in why the Diamondbacks are being so cautious throughout his rehab process.

“We’re cautious in these areas and that’s what I try to explain to you guys each and every time,” Lovullo said. “When it comes to these guys expressing how they feel, if it’s not just right then we’re going to get it examined. He complained about a little bit of discomfort when he got to the ballpark (Monday).”

Rotation flip

In anticipation of the club’s trip to Denver from Sept. 10-13, the Diamondbacks are flipping left-hander Robbie Ray and right-hander Zack Godley in the starting rotation.

Ray will now pitch Sunday’s series finale against the Atlanta Braves and Godley will pitch the series opener on the road against the Colorado Rockies on Monday.

Because of the team’s off day on Wednesday, the Diamondbacks had the option to move around a few starters. According to Lovullo, the move is an effort to match up better with the Rockies, who feature an impressive assortment of right-handed hitters.

The Diamondbacks initially flipped Ray and Godley in mid-August when the club has in the midst of a three-city road trip through Cincinnati, Texas and San Diego.

“It’s something that we’ve talked about for a month when we initially flipped those guys,” Lovullo said. “We had good reasons for doing that and I think they were fairly obvious. Now we want to flip them back and we have a strategy here in terms of having certain looks against different teams.

“In Colorado’s case, we know they’re a very heavy-hitting, right-handed team. That’s a pretty obvious situation right there.”

Here’s the plan

Right-hander Matt Andriese was caught off guard last week when he was called into Lovullo’s office and told he was being optioned to the minor leagues. Once he heard the reasoning behind it, though, he said he understood the club’s thinking.

Andriese threw 3 2/3 shutout innings for High-A Visalia on Friday, working his pitch count up to 51, a move made to allow him to become a long-relief or starting pitching option in September.

“I think it’s good protection with me throwing 50-60 pitches in case we need that going forward,” Andriese said. 

Andriese was recalled on Tuesday. Because it was the corresponding move for placing Godley on the paternity list, Andriese did not have to spend the requisite 10 days in the minors.

Lovullo said he expects to use Andriese in a long-relief role, along with right-hander Matt Koch, thus allowing him to use left-hander T.J. McFarland more in matchup situations.

“I just like having that third lefty,” Lovullo said, with Andrew Chafin and Jake Diekman being the other two.

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Nick Piecoro also contributed to this report.

Richard Morin covers the Coyotes and Diamondbacks for azcentral sports. He can be reached at [email protected] and by phone at 480-316-2493. Follow him on Twitter @ramorin_azc.