The D-backs announced Wednesday that they’ve designated lefty Tyler Holton for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for fellow southpaw Andrew Chafin, whose one-year deal to return to Arizona has now become official.
Holton, 26, made his big league debut with the Snakes in 2022, yielding three runs on eight hits and a pair of walks with six strikeouts in nine innings of work. The 2018 ninth-rounder spent the remainder of the season in Triple-A Reno, where he worked to a 4.43 ERA with a 23.5% strikeout rate against a 9.3% walk rate in 44 2/3 innings (22 relief appearances, two starts).
The 2022 season as a whole represented a sizable turnaround for Holton, who split the 2021 campaign between Double-A and Triple-A, combining for a 6.72 ERA in that time. There was some promise under the hood even amid those ugly bottom-line results, however, as Holton fanned 26.5% of his opponents against a solid 6.5% walk rate.
Holton has regularly posted strong strikeout and walk rates and a solid 45.2% ground-ball rate in parts of three minor league seasons. He’s also generally avoided the long ball, even when pitching in hitter-friendly settings like Reno. Since he was just selected to the MLB roster last year, he has a pair of minor league options remaining. All of that could hold appeal to other clubs either on waivers or via a small trade, but Holton has never been considered among the D-backs’ very best prospects and doesn’t have the type of power arsenal teams so frequently covet, averaging just 90.5 mph on his heater in this past season’s brief MLB debut.
The D-backs will have a week to trade Holton, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or release him.
Attention Nick Krall – another lefty to throw at the problem….
Bummer, I liked Holton more as an MLB ready LHP for depth than Martin/Frias, but I get them not thinking either would slip through waivers
Makes sense though to DFA a LH when signing a LH. I was guessing it would be Frias.
Dbacks have impressive depth when you consider that they are rightfully worried that no matter which player they DFA, there is a strong likelihood he will be claimed by someone else. Surprisingly, this pertains to the bullpen arms as well.
Now that pitchers and catchers have reported, can teams now move a player to the 60-day IL, if they know he’ll be out until at least June?
Yes, players can now be placed on the 60 day IL, opening roster spots for others.
We are knocking on wood in AZ because no one on the 40 man roster qualifies, all are healthy.
The Nationals have Tanner Rainey recovering from TJ surgery (and Steven Strasburg probably out indefinitely) and can certainly use a LHP with options.
With Chafin signing, the Dbacks successfully addressed all their off-season Goals. These are my Grades for the Dbacks off-season moves. Goals listed in Priority order.
1. Total rebuild of the disastrous bullpen, including signing a Closer. Grade B+
Kept 4 Melancon, Mantiply, Nelson and Ginkel
Added McCough (Closer?), Chafin, Vargas and lots of one-dimensionally intriguing others.
Melancon has a bad year once every 5 years throughout his career. 2022 was his bad 5th year. I expect positive regression towards career numbers in a bounce back year.
2. Trade one of the big 4 LHH CF/OF for a RHH OF with power, to alleviate the team weakness against left handed pitching. Grade A-
Didn’t really get the optimum RHH OF in Lourdes Gurriel, but paired with Moreno it was a very good return for trading Daulton Varsho. Sad to see him go, but had to happen.
3. Get a RHH 3b with some power to balance out lineup against LH pitching . Left handed pitching exposed the team weakness fron the right hand side of the plate. A-
Evan Longoria fits well in the lineup, including fitting into the Dbacks salary structure. Definite upgrade. Great bridge to up and coming young 3b prospects.
4. Upgrade backup catcher. Grade A+
Gabriel Moreno was the biggest and most pleasant surprise get of the off-season. Dbacks should be set at Catcher for the foreseeable future.
5. Add another RH OF bat with some power. Again to correct the extreme team weakness against LH pitching. Grade B+
Lewis still has lots of potential IF he can be/stay healthy. Lewis and Gurriel are the bridge to Kristian Robinson and eventually Drew Jones. Dbacks only need 1 good year from one of them.
6. Give the 4 young stud starting pitchers (Brandon Pfaadt, Ryne Nelson, Drey Jameson and Tommy Henry) soft landings to develop in 2023. Grade B
We all wish the Dbacks could have traded Bumgarner to get him out of the way for these 4 to develop this year, but it is probably best to have MadBum around for at least another 1/2 season. And resigning Davies wasn’t the most exciting signing, yet he’s probably necessary to ensure a soft landing for the big 4. And If one or more of these youngsters faulter. more prospects are due next year.
Overall, I rate Hazen’s moves at B+, leaning toward A-. I think there is excitement in Dback land this year, with a nagging expectation that they might just snag a Wild Card spot, but will definitely make another big improvement over last year’s 74 win total, maybe as high as 90 wins, but definitely at or above .500!