Arizona Diamondbacks' Nick Ahmed headed for shoulder surgery

It might not come as much of a surprise given he'd been pulled from his rehabilitation and shut down back on June 2, but Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed will have surgery on his right shoulder, manager Torey Lovullo announced prior to Monday's game against the Cincinnati Reds at Chase Field.

"Obviously, it wasn't the news we were looking for. But they're going to go in there and clean out some soft tissue. And there's some bone spurs in there that are causing him some problems," Lovullo said. "But what I explained to him is that this has been bothering him for some time. And he's on the road to recovery, being able to play at full strength. And I know that he's been protecting it and doing all that he could. He's such a gamer to try and get back to us. But it just wasn't working, and this is the best situation for him to keep moving forward."

Lovullo said he is remaining hopeful that Ahmed will be back at some point this season, but did not have a timeline for his recovery. He said Ahmed thinks there's a chance he could play again in 2022. 

Ahmed is on the 60-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation. The 32-year-old shortstop hasn't played in a game since May 15. 

Top orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache, with whom Ahmed met after being shut down, will do the surgery. 

Schulte to begin chemotherapy

Through the Diamondbacks, team radio broadcaster Greg Schulte issued a statement on Monday announcing that he will be missing some home games in addition to the road games he already stopped working, due to a medical condition that will require chemotherapy. 

Schulte, 70, has been the radio voice of the Diamondbacks since their inaugural season in 1998. He'd already cut his schedule down to home game broadcasts only when this season began, but said the decision to do that was not related to his current situation.

Lovullo said the team took the news hard when the Diamondbacks heard it.

"We love him. We miss him and we wish him all the best. He is a true Arizona Diamondback," Lovullo said. "He loves and supports this, this organization with everything he has. And in return we love him, and I just want to say 'Get well, Gub, we miss you.'"

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Weaver OK after return

Diamondbacks RHP Luke Weaver was the winning pitcher Sunday in Philadelphia, in his return from more than two months on the injured list. 

Weaver allowed a run on three hits over three innings, with four strikeouts and two walks. 

"Just felt pretty good how things went. There's some things I need to do a little bit better, not fall behind on some counts there at the end and just kind of keep that durability going throughout the game," Weaver said.

He'd been on the 60-day injured list due to an elbow problem. 

"Yeah, there's a lot of emotions, you get that nervous anxiousness almost like it's, maybe it's your debut," Weaver said. "You can't simulate that type of environment, especially the Philadelphia environment. So you're just trying to stay calm. Trust in what you're doing, not let the moment get too big. And just simply try to breathe and not have a panic attack."

Lovullo said Weaver made a slight change in his delivery that was positive, throwing from a more upright position and using his whole body to pitch.

"I just liked the way he was attacking the zone. I thought there was a great, great changeup that was involved as well, a lot of swing and miss," Lovullo said. "And he was just pounding the zone. I think there was a lot of emotion to his day."

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Short hops

*Pitcher J.B. Bukauskas (strained right shoulder) had a throwing program Monday and will work off flat ground Tuesday, Lovullo said. 

*Pitcher Humberto Castellanos (strained right elbow) will start a throwing program on Thursday. 

*Moving Daulton Varsho to right field and keeping Alek Thomas in center, as was the case Monday with the Diamondbacks' lineup, was not an arm strength-based decision, Lovullo said. "I think they're both very, very good defenders and whether somebody wins or loses, I don't think either guys are looking at it (that way). They just want to both be on the field together and help us win baseball games," Lovullo said. He added that Varsho handled being told of the move OK. expressing a little frustration but still being ready to play where needed.

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Get in touch with Jose Romero at Jose.Romero@gannett.com. Find him on Twitter at @RomeroJoseM.