The Diamondbacks optioned right-hander Drey Jameson to Triple-A Reno yesterday, opening up a roster spot for lefty Tommy Henry, who was recalled and started last night’s game. Today, the club is optioning outfielder Jake McCarthy as well, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, recalling infielder Emmanuel Rivera in a corresponding move.
Individually, the moves aren’t necessarily shocking. Both players have started a bit slow here in the early parts of this season and neither is fully established. Each player is 25 years old and came into this year with less than a year of service time. But their demotions, as well as Madison Bumgarner recently getting designated for assignment, perhaps point to the club having more of a win-now mentality than recent years.
The D’Backs went 25-35 in the shortened 2020 season before winning just 52 games the season after and 74 last year. The silver lining of those losing seasons is that they’ve been able to devote playing time to young players like Josh Rojas, Corbin Carroll, Christian Walker and others, who were able to use those opportunities to hone their skills cement themselves as viable big leaguers to varying degrees.
But this year, the club’s emerging young core has helped them jump out to a 13-11 start. With the Dodgers having a modest offseason and feeling less like inevitable conquerors while the Padres and Giants have had slow starts, the D’Backs find themselves leading the American League West. In order to stay that up there, it seems there’s less room for players to develop in the big leagues.
McCarthy looked to have taken a step forward last year, hitting .283/.342/.427 for a wRC+ of 116 while also stealing 23 bases. With him in the outfield alongside Carroll and Alek Thomas, the club felt good enough about its options on the grass to trade Daulton Varsho to the Blue Jays in the offseason. They did get Lourdes Gurriel Jr. back in that deal for some insurance, though he’s a short-term add since he’s an impending free agent. McCarthy hasn’t been able to carry over those results so far, hitting just .143/.229/.238 prior to today’s move. He’s surely due for some regression from a .160 batting average on balls in play, but he’s also not hitting the ball with much authority. He’s currently in the 9th percentile in terms of average exit velocity, 8th in hard hit rate and 34th in barrel rate. He’ll head to Triple-A to try to get into a groove.
As for Jameson, his numbers might not look disastrous at first glance, as he has a 3.71 ERA through six appearances. However, he hasn’t exactly been racking up the outs. He started the season in the bullpen and made three long relief appearances, but then was moved to the rotation when Zach Davies landed on the injured list. His first start was solid, tossing four shutouts innings against the Brewers, throwing 54 pitches in the process. His next start wasn’t quite as good, as he threw 71 pitches but logged only 3 2/3 innings against the Cardinals. Then on Sunday, he only lasted one inning against the Padres. It took him 43 pitches, allowing three hits, three walks and three earned runs in the process.
“If he pitched better, he’d still be here,” manager Torey Lovullo said frankly yesterday, per Theo Mackie of the Arizona Republic. “That’s one of the things that (General Manager Mike Hazen) told him. A 43-pitch first inning puts us way behind, we’re kind of in a box, we’ve got to play a little catchup now with our bullpen. This was a direct response to what he did yesterday and a little bit of what he did in St. Louis as well.”
Those comments seem to reflect the win-now mentality that the club currently has. “We felt like the best thing for Drey at this point in time is to go down, get his timing, get his rhythm and find his stuff,” Lovullo said. “I said it last night: Good major league hitters, when they know you’re throwing a fastball, will get wood on a bullet. I stand by his ability to make pitches and when he does, he’s going to find his way back here.”
With Jameson going to Reno to try to earn his way back to the majors and Bumgarner out of the picture, the club is down to four starters on the roster in Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Ryne Nelson and Henry. They have some off days coming up that could allow them to get by with that group, but it sounds like that’s not the plan. “We have discussed the four-man,” Lovullo said. “We know the off days are there. It was thrown around. We have not made any decisions, but I don’t think a four-man rotation right now is anything we’re interested in.”
Since the club needs a fifth starter, it makes speculative sense that a promotion of prospect Brandon Pfaadt could be imminent, though the club hasn’t made any kind of official announcement in that department. A telling sign could be if he makes his next scheduled start, as he’s currently slated to take the ball for Reno on Wednesday. A consensus top-50 prospect in the league, Pfaadt isn’t on the 40-man roster and would require a corresponding move if he gets the call. He has a 3.54 ERA through four starts in Triple-A this year, striking out 30.1% of batters faced while walking 4.8%.
79-83 third place finish……yes the moves are saying “win now” but sooner or later they are looking up at SD and LA and looking down at SF. Maybe with a super power telescope they could look down and see the Rockies but it’s a big maybe.
It’s very likely that the Dodgers/Padres make up ground in the standings, but they can’t do it head-to-head with the DBacks until August
Any ground they gain is contingent upon them winning while the DBacks are losing, but the DBacks also have one of the easiest rest of season schedules and the Dodgers/Padres play each other 10 more times before either team sees the DBacks again.
If you don’t think that they’re going to beat up on each other, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Highly doubt a 79-83 record unless there are zero deadline moves (and even then I’d doubt it).
highheat
It is a tall ask to see this rookie-laden team compete with consensus powers Dodgers and Padres for an entire season. But I am encouraged by the fact that the Dbacks went toe to toe with them in the first two weeks of the season and came out on top. I say this especially because, barring a rash of injuries, the Dbacks of the first two weeks of the season are the weakest this team will be in 2023. The rookies are still getting their feet under them and those that will significantly contribute this year are just getting sorted out. As the season progresses they will continue to improve., and there is sufficient depth to plug holes anywhere with quality replacements.
Okey dokey, Nostradamus.
Leading the American League West? I think the Rangers and Astros might disagree.
First in the AL West is quite a feat for the Dbacks. With the likes of the Rangers and Halos and somehow the Dbacks are hopsctching leagues and laying waste to the AL West. Impressive!
as a diehard dbacks fan you never ever hear Tory speak like that, Mike and Tory arent playing around and its about time!!!!! Stop sugarcoating this. First eating bum contract now this. I love it. When brandon comes up he will be a beast, We are one hitter and maybe one more veteran starter away from being so damn good. I am shocked about Jakes start, He is a good ballplayer and I hope he comes back/
First eating bum contract?!?!? While I applaud anyone getting paid for that sort of thing, pornstars have been contracted to do exactly that for some time. Mike and Torey are hardly the first.
Haha eating bum contract
When did the dbacks realigned themselves to the AL west???
Christian Walker is still considered a “young player”?
Christian Walker is mid 30s he is not a young player
I think adding a legit back end reliever is needed as well. The middle relief is now solid but they lack a lock it down closer… They should be active at the deadline they have some minor league chips that could bring a haul if they make the right ones available…
jimd
A legit closer would definitely make the Dbacks a stronger team. I have my doubts they can swing a deal mid-season to get one, but it’s a legit point to make.
They have some trade chips, both major leaguers and prospects. I would never advocate trading Lawler or Jones to get a rental Closer, but there are other assets that might get the job done. Ahmed and Gurriel are the most obvious because of their expiring contracts. Melancon and Carson Kelley would be next IF they get healthy by the Trade Deadline. Then there are the strong core of Prospects, especially the overload of OF.
I still think Jameson would make a great closer.
Agree. Gotta give Drey (and maybe Ryne Nelson if he struggles in the rotation) a shot at the closer role before spending big on an established closer.
The MLBTR writing adds a lil humor to my day, gotta love the passion to get the story posted ASAP.
The D-Backs aren’t a bad team and will certainly be in the thick of it when all is said and done but there is no way they win the West…
Glad to see they’re not just shoving Jameson back in the bullpen; he definitely has the ability to start, but adjusting back to starting on the fly has led to some (foreseeable) issues. Let him get some time in AAA to get his feet back under him.
Context for the McCarthy struggles is he got sick late in ST and didn’t have enough reps to get his timing back; another instance where getting his balance back in a lower stress environment would be huge.
Hopefully next time out Henry isn’t trying to nibble so much, and if Rivera can translate some of his AAA offense that would be huge (the DH mix is getting a bit crowded).
That SP and RP depth is getting tested heavily early; I know maintaining service time for Pfaadt is the “preferred option”, but we’re pushing to the point where there are very few other options with Davies down. Let’s see that “win now” talk walked.
If the Dbacks do promote Pfaadt, which I agree they should, that will be the clearest message yet that the organization has moved up the window of opportunity to compete in 2023 instead of waiting until 2024. Yes, it would be nice to have Pfaadt’s rookie status in tact for 2024 to possibly obtain another high draft pick, but Hazen and company seem to be convinced this team is ready now.
Pfaadt needs to change his name.
Lipids might be preferable.
But he fought so hard to get people to pronounce it correctly.
Pfaadt = fought
Last time McCarthy was sent down for a reset, he came back and played and hit like an All-Star!
American League West??