Perdomo ascends to bigs with Ahmed on IL

With Nick Ahmed's right knee taking longer to heal than initially hoped, the D-backs on Saturday decided to put the shortstop on the 10-day injured list and get a glimpse of the future by calling up Geraldo Perdomo.

Perdomo, 21, was signed by the D-backs in July 2016 out of the Dominican Republic and climbed the ladder in the organization quickly, reaching Class A Advanced in 2019 and spending the 2020 season at the D-backs’ alternate training site.

Perdomo, who is ranked as the organization's No. 3 prospect by MLB Pipeline, made his Major League debut in the D-backs' 7-0 loss to the Padres at Petco Park. He entered the game at shortstop in the eighth inning and struck out looking in his lone at-bat.

• What to expect from Geraldo Perdomo in Majors

Perdomo has shown a maturity that has the front office convinced he can handle the jump to the big leagues for the next 10 days or so until Ahmed's right knee patella tendinitis improves.

"This kid does a lot of things that we really value," D-backs general manager Mike Hazen said. "You saw it all Spring Training, I think. He grinded out his at-bats every day. He never looks overmatched at the plate. He plays a very good defensive shortstop. He’s always done that. Great athlete -- he can run. He should be able to help us a little bit here."

Perdomo developed some tendinitis in his throwing shoulder after being optioned from big league camp, and he had recently started playing in back-field games again.

Arizona farm director Josh Barfield called Perdomo in the early evening Friday to see how he was feeling, and Perdomo told him he was looking forward to playing in a game against Angels Minor Leaguers on Saturday.

Barfield called back later just before Perdomo was going to go to bed.

"Sorry, you're not playing tomorrow," Barfield told him.

Perdomo started to protest before Barfield told him the reason: "You're going to the big leagues."

"I was in shock," Perdomo said. "I couldn't believe it. I was crying a little bit. And I'm so happy, really excited to be part of the team that I signed with when I was 16 years old. It's going to be great for me."

While Perdomo might have been caught off guard by the news Friday, he always expected to reach the Majors. He once told D-backs vice president of Latin operations Junior Noboa that he would get there quickly.

"That was my dream," Perdomo said. "What I said to Junior Noboa when he signed me [was] just give me an opportunity and you're going to see in four or five years that I'm going to make the big leagues."

Josh Rojas started the first three games of the season at shortstop, and manager Torey Lovullo said Rojas would still get the majority of the playing time at the position. But with Ahmed's knee still not 100%, the team decided it needed a little more coverage at short. The D-backs did not want to ask Ketel Marte, who spent almost the entire spring playing center field, to move back to the infield.

"A super talented, young player for us that we have been growing to love as the Major League staff has gotten a chance to watch him perform,” Lovullo said of Perdomo. “There's an ease to his game defensively. He is still growing and learning as a hitter every single day, but he has a very, very stubborn at-bat from both sides of the plate. So it made a lot of sense for us to have that versatility, that type of versatile player, join us and get his opportunity."