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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- As is typical this time of the spring, the D-backs were hit with several injuries over the past week. None of them turned out to be serious, which was good news for them, but the fact that they happened gives us a good excuse to take a look at the depth of the roster.

Let’s start with the one that would have hurt the D-backs the most had it been serious: Christian Walker.

Walker was hit on the right hand by a pitch last Thursday, and was in obvious discomfort as he immediately left the game.

“It was really painful,” Walker said. “It started throbbing immediately. Sometimes you can tell pretty early -- in the seconds right after is when I get the best judge [on] if something is really wrong or not.”

This time Walker wasn’t sure. It wasn’t until he underwent an X-ray that day and an MRI the following day that it was determined there was no serious injury. Walker has been hitting in the cage and is expected to be back in the lineup Thursday.

What would the D-backs have done had Walker been out for an extended period of time?

While Lourdes Gurriel Jr. played a little first base last spring and has experience at the position, Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said his preference would be to leave Gurriel in the outfield. Instead, he would go with some combination of Pavin Smith and Emmanuel Rivera at first base.

Replacing Walker’s bat is tough enough, but it is nearly impossible to replace his Gold Glove-caliber defense at first base.

Outfielder Alek Thomas was back in the lineup Tuesday after suffering from some inflammation in his right wrist.

The outfield is where the D-backs have a lot of depth and could probably sustain an injury the best, unless of course it’s Corbin Carroll. In fact, Arizona's outfield is overcrowded at the moment, with Jake McCarthy and Pavin Smith battling just to make the Opening Day roster.

Finally, third baseman Eugenio Suárez missed some time with discomfort in his left side. He was back in the lineup Tuesday -- and smacked a home run -- so he appears to be fine.

Third base is another area where the D-backs have some depth. Besides Rivera, they have Jace Peterson and Geraldo Perdomo, both of whom could slide over to third, with Jordan Lawlar or Blaze Alexander playing some shortstop.

General manager Mike Hazen has done a nice job of building up the depth in the organization to the point where the D-backs can sustain some losses.

As mentioned earlier, there are players like Carroll, catcher Gabriel Moreno and the top two starters in the rotation, Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, who would be nearly impossible to replace if they’re out for an extended period of time.