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Diamondbacks Designate Thyago Vieira For Assignment

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The Diamondbacks announced they’ve designated Thyago Vieira for assignment. The move opens a spot in the bullpen for newly-acquired southpaw A.J. Puk, who has reported to the team. The transaction drops Arizona’s 40-man roster tally to 39.

Vieira has spent the past two months in the desert. The Snakes claimed him off waivers from the Orioles at the beginning of June. He made 11 appearances, allowing six runs (five earned) across 15 2/3 innings. Vieira struck out 14 and handed out nine free passes. Arizona is his third team of the season. He also had stints in Milwaukee and Baltimore and carries a 5.21 earned run average through 38 innings on the year.

The Brazilian-born righty is one of the harder throws in the game, averaging north of 97 MPH on his fastball. That hasn’t translated to huge whiff rates, though, and he has never harnessed his power stuff. Vieira has walked nearly 15% of opposing hitters this season and has a 13.1% walk percentage over parts of five big league campaigns.

Arizona is likely to place Vieira on waivers in the next few days. The 31-year-old has exhausted his minor league options, meaning another team would need to keep him in the big league ’pen if they claim him. Vieira does not have the previous career outright nor the three years of service time necessary to decline an outright assignment, so the Snakes could keep him in the organization if he goes unclaimed on waivers.

Diamondbacks, Mariners Interested In Tanner Scott

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The Diamondbacks and Mariners are among the teams “thought to be vying for” Marlins closer Tanner Scott, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.  At least a dozen clubs have reportedly shown some level of interest in Scott’s services, with the D’Backs and M’s now joining the Orioles, Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees, and Royals as publicly known suitors.

Scott threw another scoreless inning in Miami’s 6-2 win over the Brewers last night, extending his scoreless innings streak to 17 2/3 frames.  For the season as a whole, Scott has a superb 1.18 ERA over 45 2/3 innings, with a 28.7% strikeout rate and similarly excellent numbers almost across the board — with the glaring exception of his 14.8% walk rate, which sits just a few decimal points away from being the very worst in baseball.

While these control problems make Scott less than an automatic lock in the ninth inning, this is his second consecutive season of tremendous results as the Marlins’ closer.  Since Miami is in seller mode and Scott is a free agent after the season, the left-hander is one of the most obvious players to be moved by the July 30 trade deadline, and several contenders are naturally reaching out to the Marlins about Scott’s services.

Arizona, in fact, already completed a deal with Miami about another southpaw reliever just two days ago, picking up A.J. Puk for two prospects.  Heyman’s report doesn’t specify the timing of the Diamondbacks’ inquiries about Scott, so it does seem possible that the D’Backs might’ve pivoted to Puk as a backup plan if the Marlins’ asking price for Scott was too high.  On the flip side, an argument can easily be made that Arizona’s shaky bullpen needs more reinforcements than just Puk, so it is easy to imagine that trade as perhaps laying some groundwork for future talks, once the Marlins explore what other clubs are willing to give up for Scott.

Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen told reporters (including Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports) that the Snakes could add more relievers, and the team was continuing to focus on acquiring pitching before turning to acquire any position players.  “We’re still gonna stay engaged in every market, you never know when an opportunity is gonna come up,” Hazen said.

The Mariners are another team who has already been very active in advance of July 30, as Seattle has acquired both Randy Arozarena and Yimi Garcia in respective trades with the Rays and Blue Jays.  Like with the D’Backs and the Puk trade, Seattle’s acquisition of Garcia probably doesn’t close the door on the possibility that the M’s might also aim to land Scott, though the Mariners have a far more glaring need for offense than pitching.  Depending on how much prospect depth or financial flexibility the M’s have, Seattle could opt to focus its upcoming moves towards adding more bats, rather than bring Scott into what is already a pretty solid bullpen.

Diamondbacks Acquire A.J. Puk

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The Diamondbacks are making a big move on the relief market. Arizona announced the acquisition of A.J. Puk from the Marlins for two prospects: corner infielder Deyvison De Los Santos and center fielder Andrew Pintar. The D-Backs designated lefty reliever Joe Jacques for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot.

It’s the second consecutive season in which Arizona makes a major addition to the late innings. The Snakes brought in Paul Sewald to lock down the ninth a year ago. Sewald is still holding down the closer role despite a rough stretch this month. Puk adds a high-octane southpaw to the setup group.

A former sixth overall pick by the Athletics, Puk broke through as a high-leverage reliever in 2022. Oakland dealt him to Miami for outfielder JJ Bleday in a swap of former top draft picks the following offseason. Puk fired 56 2/3 frames of 3.97 ERA ball with excellent strikeout and walk numbers during his first season in South Florida. He held the closer role for a stretch, picking up 15 saves and finishing 31 games altogether.

Miami could have been content to leave Puk in a late-innings role. First-year president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and his front office were curious about the possibility of stretching Puk back into the rotation role he’d occupied in college and during the early part of his minor league career. While the Spring Training results were promising, the starting pitching experiment proved a short-lived blunder.

The 29-year-old opened the season in Miami’s rotation. He took the ball four times and didn’t once make it through the fifth inning. Opponents teed off for 17 runs in Puk’s 13 2/3 innings as a starter. He walked 17 and hit a batter while recording just 12 strikeouts. The Marlins placed him on the injured on April 20, citing shoulder fatigue.

When they reinstated him a few weeks later, Miami abandoned the rotation maneuver and kicked Puk back into his customary short relief role. The results since then have been exceptional. The University of Florida product has turned in a 2.08 ERA over 30 1/3 innings out of the ’pen. He has punched out 33 of 114 batters faced while walking only six. Opponents are hitting .159/.204/.252 in that time. Puk has held seven leads in front of All-Star closer Tanner Scott (who is basically a lock to move before next Tuesday’s deadline himself).

Puk’s season stats are still weighed down by his disastrous few weeks in the rotation. Excluding his starting work paints the picture of an impact reliever. Over his season and a half in Miami, Puk carried a 3.31 ERA through 86 appearances when working out of the bullpen. He punched out 31.2% of batters faced compared to a tidy 5.3% walk rate. Puk has been particularly lethal to left-handed batters. Southpaws have hit .174/.215/.287 with 45 strikeouts and four walks over 123 plate appearances when Puk has pitched in relief. Righties have had a bit more success, particularly from a power perspective, but they’ve hit .236 with a modest .283 on-base percentage.

The D-Backs had been light on left-handed relief depth. Joe Mantiply was the only southpaw in Torey Lovullo’s bullpen. He has a 3.99 ERA behind a solid 48.2% ground-ball rate, but he doesn’t throw hard or record many strikeouts. Puk averages north of 95 MPH with his fastball and has a swing-and-miss slider that more comfortably plays in the late innings. Mantiply can serve as the second lefty in the hierarchy, while Brandon Hughes is on optional assignment to Triple-A.

Puk is playing on a $1.8MM salary in his first season of arbitration. The Diamondbacks are taking on a bit less than $700K for the stretch run. He’ll go through the arbitration process twice more before hitting free agency during the 2026-27 offseason. Puk doesn’t have the gaudy save totals that arbitrators tend to value from relievers, so he should be a generally affordable bullpen piece for the next couple years.

Miami brings back a pair of mid-tier prospects in their first of what should be a handful of deadline deals. De Los Santos is the more highly-regarded of the duo. He’s a right-handed hitting infielder who has elevated his stock with a monster season in the upper minors. Baseball America’s JJ Cooper tweets that De Los Santos would have ranked eighth on the outlet’s forthcoming update of Arizona’s top 30 prospects. Pintar would’ve landed 21st on that list.

The D-Backs signed De Los Santos out of the Dominican Republic five years ago. He immediately intrigued evaluators with his power upside but struggled to make contact in the low minors. He played his way to Double-A by age 20 and connected on 20 homers there last season. Yet he also struck out at a 26% clip and only managed a .297 on-base percentage. The Diamondbacks left him unprotected for the Rule 5 draft and briefly watched him depart the organization. The Guardians snagged De Los Santos in the Rule 5 and carried him on their 40-man roster during Spring Training.

Cleveland decided at the end of camp that they couldn’t devote a bench spot to a development project. The Guards returned De Los Santos to Arizona after he cleared waivers. The Snakes sent him back to Double-A Amarillo for a second straight year. De Los Santos obliterated the level, hitting .372/.426/.696 with 14 homers in 38 games. He hasn’t tailed off much since being promoted to Triple-A Reno. De Los Santos has 14 more homers over 49 Triple-A contests, and he’s running a .289/.338/.588 slash.

There’s still a fair bit of risk with De Los Santos’ profile. Scouts have never loved his defense at third base. Arizona has used him mostly at first base this season, suggesting that’s where he projects as a big leaguer. He remains an aggressive hitter who isn’t taking many walks. That’s a difficult profile to pull off, but De Los Santos clearly has impact power that could fit in the middle of a lineup if he hits his ceiling. Miami will need to put him on their 40-man roster at the start of the offseason to keep him out of the upcoming Rule 5 draft. There’s a good chance they call him up at some point after the deadline, particularly if they manage to find a taker for Josh Bell in the coming days.

Pintar, 23, was a fifth-round pick out of BYU back in 2022. A righty-swinging center fielder, he has spent the bulk of the season in High-A. Pintar hit .304/.403/.516 with nine homers and nearly as many walks as strikeouts over 57 games. Arizona had promoted him to Double-A a couple weeks ago. Pintar has above-average speed and has improved his offensive profile with his strong showing through the season’s first few months.

As for Jacques, he’ll likely land on waivers in the next few days. Arizona claimed him off waivers from the Red Sox in April. He only pitched once for them at the MLB level. The 29-year-old southpaw has a 5.60 ERA over 27 1/3 innings in the minors this season. He made his MLB debut with Boston last season and worked to a 5.06 ERA across 26 2/3 frames.

The D-Backs could look into adding a starting pitcher and/or an offensive upgrade before Tuesday, though a high-leverage reliever has seemed their priority for weeks. Miami will certainly remain active on the trade market. Beyond Scott, they’re likely to move Jazz Chisholm Jr. and try to offload some of Bell’s contract. They could field offers on others relievers like Andrew Nardi and Calvin Faucher, starter Trevor Rogers, and outfielders Jesús Sánchez and Bryan De La Cruz. The Fish are in full rebuild mode and don’t have many players who’ll be categorically off the table.

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported the Diamondbacks were acquiring Puk. Craig Mish of SportsGrid reported the Marlins were acquiring De Los Santos as one of two prospects. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale identified the second prospect as a position player, while Ari Alexander of KPRC-2 was first to report it would be Pintar. Alexander reported the Jacques DFA.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

GM Mike Hazen: Diamondbacks Planning To Be Deadline Buyers

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With 11 wins in their last 16 games, the Diamondbacks now have a 50-48 record and sit just percentage points behind the Mets for the final NL wild card berth.  Plenty of teams remain in the mix in the crowded National League, yet this hot stretch of play indicates that the reigning NL champions are finding their form despite weathering multiple injuries within their starting rotation.

Arizona GM Mike Hazen said on July 1 that he was hoping his club would be in a position to add rather than subtract at the trade deadline, and the Diamondbacks’ strong play in the last three weeks has paid off their general manager’s belief.  With the D’Backs now more firmly looking like contenders, Hazen told reporters (including MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert and Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic) yesterday that “as of now, the calls we’re making, we’re looking to add talent to the team.”

Where exactly the D’Backs might focus their shopping has yet to be determined, as Hazen said he would “love to be able to target down the needs to bullpen, position-player fit somewhere, and just go with that.”  A more limited list of needs would hinge, of course, on how healthy the rotation is looking by the July 30 deadline, as Jordan Montgomery, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Merrill Kelly all remain on the injured list.

Montgomery is the closest to returning, as he threw 56 pitches over three innings of a simulated game on Thursday.  This lines the southpaw up to be activated from the 15-day injured list during Arizona’s series in Kansas City that begins on Monday, though manager Torey Lovullo didn’t officially state this was the team’s plan.  Montgomery hasn’t pitched since June 27 due to right knee inflammation, and is looking to return from this IL stint and turn around a rough season, as the lefty has a 6.44 ERA in his first 65 2/3 innings and 13 starts in a D’Backs uniform.

Rodriguez and Kelly are both tentatively set to return at some point in August, and both hurlers are set for bullpen sessions today.  Hazen said “everything has been good” with the duo as of late, and they could advance to facing hitters after both Saturday’s bullpen and then another throwing session next week.

Assuming Montgomery is indeed back for the Royals series, he’d rejoin a D’Backs rotation that also features ace Zac Gallen, Brandon Pfaadt, Ryne Nelson, and rookie Yilber Diaz.  Nelson has pitched increasingly well as the season has gone on and Diaz has looked sharp in his first two career MLB starts, and thus Arizona might go from a lack of rotation depth to perhaps a surplus later in the season if everyone comes back healthy and effective.  These are the decisions Hazen must weigh as the deadline approaches, since on paper, trading for another starter seems like a logical hedge against the uncertainty that the Diamondbacks still face with their starter mix.

“Long-term starting pitching is still going to be something I’m going to explore no matter what if it’s multiple years of control because I feel like we have to,” Hazen said.  “We always have to look out for our rotation a couple of years down the line.  I think if I feel very confident when Monty comes back and then [Kelly and Rodriguez] are right around the corner, I probably would not place as much emphasis on it.  But I don’t know.  It obviously depends on if Nelly and Yilber keep throwing the ball really well, that’s going to impact how this goes.”

Hazen also announced that the D’Backs would be moving Slade Cecconi into a bullpen role for the rest of the season, which is probably less a sign of Arizona’s confidence in its forthcoming rotation depth than it is a reflection of Cecconi’s unimpressive results as a starter.  Cecconi has started 13 of his 14 Major League games this season, posting a 6.14 ERA over 66 innings.

It isn’t necessarily surprising that a rookie is having a tough time in his first extended look against big league hitters, and if nothing else, Cecconi has eaten some innings for a D’Backs team that was often scrambling to fill rotation holes.  His new role will also be about covering innings in some sense, as Hazen said that if Cecconi is recalled from Triple-A, the right-hander will work in a long man role to help give the bullpen some respite.

Longoria: Not Officially Retired, But Unlikely To Continue Playing

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Evan Longoria suited up for just the third organization of his career in 2023 when he signed with the D-backs and helped the club make an improbable run to the World Series. He hasn’t signed a new contract since then but also hasn’t formally filed any retirement paperwork. The longtime Rays and Giants third baseman, however, told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and others this past weekend that he’s all but officially retired.

“I waited long enough to know that I was done,” Longoria said before detailing some of the physical toll his 16-year playing career took during his final seasons. “…And then, being able to go to the World Series, have the experience that I had, it made it a pretty easy decision for me going into the offseason.”

Longoria did leave the door for one final run ever so slightly cracked. The 38-year-old said it would “depend on what team” called him and their chances of reaching a postseason. He listed both the Rays and D-backs as clubs he’d at least consider if he got the itch to take one more chance at winning a World Series.

“One of the only things I haven’t accomplished is winning a World Series,” said Longoria. “So if you said I would go hit .080 for the rest of the season, but the team would win the World Series, then I’d go do it. But that’s probably about the only thing I’d want to do.”

It’s a candid and broad-reaching interview that fans of Longoria and his former clubs, in particular, will want to check out in full. Some of the many topics touched on include how no Ray has worn his iconic No. 3 since he was traded, the slugger’s thoughts on a potential new stadium for the Rays, his life at home now that he’s been able to focus on being a full-time dad, and his hope to eventually return to the game in some capacity.

If Longoria is indeed done as a player, he’ll wrap up an outstanding career with a .264/.333/.471 batting line. He played in parts of 16 big league seasons, garnering MVP votes in six of them. Longoria made three All-Star teams, was named American League Rookie of the Year, won three Gold Gloves and took home one Silver Slugger Award.

Longoria piled up 1930 hits, including 431 doubles, 26 triples and 342 home runs, tying him with Hall of Famer Ron Santo for 104th on the all-time home run leaderboard. Those 431 doubles currently rank 142nd all-time. The former No. 3 overall pick also scored 1017 runs and knocked in 1159 (the latter ranking 185th all-time). FanGraphs credits Longoria with a hefty 55.2 wins above replacement. Baseball-Reference is even more bullish at 58.6 WAR. He earned more than $150MM in salary over the course of his 16 years in the big leagues. Along the way, he carved out a reputation as an excellent and beloved teammate.

“Longo is one of the best teammates I’ve ever had,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt told the AP’s Mark Didtler. “This guy’s a pro’s pro. This guy’s the epitome of what a professional baseball player looks like. Evan Longoria is everything that’s good about our game, and what a wonderful career he had.”

Injury Notes: Hall, Lawlar, Garrett, Gipson-Long

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As of a few days ago, it seemed like left-hander DL Hall was on the cusp of returning to the Brewers after going on the injured list in April due to a left knee sprain. But his rehab outing on July 4 was shortened by rain and the club decided to give him one more rehab start, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on X.

He took the ball for Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday and started out with two scoreless innings but then the leadoff hitter in the third lined a pitch back to the mound and hit Hall’s left forearm. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com relayed video of the play on X. Per Hogg on X, Hall avoided a fracture but will be shut down for three to ten days. That will obviously delay his return to the club for at least that stretch of time, and he may need another rehab stint or two after that, depending on how long he rests.

He has not yet established himself at the big league level but he has always pitched very well in the minors and was considered one of the top 100 prospects in the sport while with the Orioles, before coming over to the Brewers in the Corbin Burnes trade. The Brewers have dealt with several challenges in the rotation, with Wade Miley and Robert Gasser done for the year while Joe Ross is also on the 60-day IL.

The club recently acquired Aaron Civale from the Rays and Dallas Keuchel from the Mariners to bolster the rotation, slotting them in with Freddy Peralta, Colin Rea and Tobias Myers. Hall could have entered that mix and nudged someone to the bullpen or the minors, but that will now have to wait.

Some more notable injury updates from around baseball…

  • Diamondbacks shortstop prospect Jordan Lawlar’s injury woes continue. He underwent thumb surgery at the end of March, which put him out of action for about two months. He started a rehab assignment at the end of May but then dealt with a hamstring issue in the middle of June and underwent an MRI, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic on X. He was able to return to the field a few days ago but reinjured that hamstring and will now miss six to eight weeks, per Piecoro on X. Lawlar has only played 13 minor league games this year and won’t have much time to add to that, meaning 2024 will be mostly a lost season for him, an unfortunate development for a guy who’s still considered one of the top 20 prospects in the league and a big part of the future in Arizona. The Snakes have Geraldo Perdomo at short for now and Kevin Newman on the bench. Newman is a free agent after this year but they have Blaze Alexander on the 40-man and on optional assignment.
  • The Mets placed right-hander Reed Garrett on the 15-day IL this week due to elbow inflammation. Thankfully, his MRI revealed good news. As relayed by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com on X, he just has some nerve inflammation. While he’s slated for a shutdown of two to four weeks, that’s surely a better outcome for him and the team than a surgery followed by a lengthy recovery period. Garrett had an ERA of 1.04 through 26 innings this year but then a 7.88 ERA in his 16 most recent frames. If he can get back on track after his shutdown period, it would be a nice bump for the Mets’ bullpen down the stretch.
  • Tigers right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long had internal brace surgery back in April and was already slated to spend the rest of 2024 rehabbing from that. On top of that, he’s also now undergone left hip labral repair surgery. Jason Beck of MLB.com was among those to relay the news on X and also passed along some thoughts from manager A.J. Hinch. It seems the club is hoping that it makes sense to address both at the same time and that the second procedure won’t add to his return timeline. “The timing works out to address this while he’s recovering from Tommy John,” Hinch said. “That’s the reason why now. It’s something that we’ve kept an eye on and he’s talked about.” He made his major league debut last year with a 2.70 ERA in four starts and will hopefully be back in the mix at some point next year.

Astros Seeking Rotation Help, First Base Upgrade

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The Astros’ recent hot streak has positioned Houston as a clear buyer heading into the July 30 trade deadline. At 46-44 (including 13-4 over their past 17 games), they’re two games back of the division-leading Mariners and 3.5 back in the Wild Card hunt. Among their deadline targets, per the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, are at least one starting pitcher and an extra bat — ideally a first baseman. Heyman calls D-backs first baseman Christian Walker the Astros’ preferred target, though it’s not yet clear whether Arizona will sell any veterans heading into the deadline.

The 33-year-old Walker would be one of the most impactful bats on the market — if the Diamondbacks ultimately end up selling. That’s far from certain right now. Arizona is all but buried in the NL West, where the Dodgers hold a commanding 7.5-game lead over the second-place Padres and a 10-game lead over the D-backs themselves. The Snakes, however, are only two and a half games behind the Padres for the final National League Wild Card spot. They’re three and a half games back of the Cardinals, who hold the second Wild Card spot at the moment.

If the Diamondbacks were to fall out of the race, it stands to reason that Walker would at least be available. The slugging, slick-fielding first baseman is a clear qualifying offer candidate, so Arizona wouldn’t necessarily be obligated to move him, as Walker could net them a draft pick if he turns down a QO and signs elsewhere. But Walker is hitting .265/.337/.507 with 22 homers this season and carries a stout .253/.332/.491 slash with 91 homers in 1721 plate appearances dating back to Opening Day 2022. He’s won a Gold Glove in each of the past two seasons as well. That type of plus offense and defense would make him one of the most in-demand players on the summer trade market.

That’s especially true for an Astros club that has gotten virtually nothing out of its first basemen this season. Houston already released Jose Abreu midway through a three-year, $58.5MM contract — a move that underscores the team’s urgency to turn things around. Jon Singleton has batted just .243/.339/.366 in 233 plate appearances while playing poor defense. Houston’s need for an alternative option is clear, and the team is clearly reluctant to give outfield prospect Joey Loperfido any time at first base (at least in the majors).

As for the team’s rotation, that’s been an area of need for much of the season — though help could be on the horizon. The ’Stros lost both Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy to UCL surgery earlier this summer. JP France had shoulder surgery recently. They’ve seen both Justin Verlander (twice, including currently) and Framber Valdez require trips to the injured list. The only healthy starters on Houston’s roster at the moment are Valdez, Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown and rookie Spencer Arrighetti. Swingman Shawn Dubin made a start against the Twins recently but was hit hard.

The Astros are hoping to have Verlander back sooner than later, however, and righty Luis Garcia is on a rehab assignment right now as he finishes up his rehab from last May’s Tommy John procedure. Lance McCullers Jr. could join the staff in the season’s second half as well. Still, Houston starters rank 21st in MLB with a 4.37 ERA, and that includes some solid work out of Javier before his UCL injury.

Even if the Astros are planning to get some combination of Verlander, Garcia and McCullers back for the stretch run, it’s possible injuries and workload concerns further impact the situation. Blanco didn’t pitch in 2020, pitched just 45 innings in 2021, 51 innings in 2022 and 125 1/3 frames last year. He’s already at 96 innings pitched. Arrighetti is within 40 innings of the 124 2/3 frames he tossed a year ago. McCullers hasn’t pitched since 2022. Garcia tossed only 27 innings last year before surgery.

There’s good sense to Houston adding some depth and stability, even if it’s not necessarily a top-tier arm who’d slot into a theoretical playoff rotation. Doing so would lessen the reliance on currently injured arms in the season’s second half and safeguard against further injuries.

One factor to consider in any Astros trade scenarios is one of salary. General manager Dana Brown said early in the 2023-24 offseason that he didn’t expect to have much financial flexibility. Houston still spent over the winter, most notably on Josh Hader’s $95MM contract, but that only further raises the question of how much flexibility the team has this summer.

Per RosterResource, Houston is right at the $257MM threshold for the second tier of luxury tax penalization. There’s no major penalty for crossing into tier two — just a hike in the tax rate itself — and it’s unlikely the Astros would add another $20MM and push themselves up to the third tier of penalty (where their top pick in the ’25 draft would be pushed back 10 places). But Houston has only paid the luxury tax twice under owner Jim Crane, and the team has never trotted out a higher payroll than its current 2024 outlay. Time will tell how much Crane is willing to add, but it’s doubtful Brown and his group will be given a proverbial blank check when shopping this month.

Diamondbacks Select Yilber Diaz

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July 8: Arizona officially selected Diaz’s contract on Monday afternoon. The D-Backs optioned lefty reliever Joe Jacques to Triple-A in a corresponding active roster move. They already had a vacancy on the 40-man roster after releasing Tucker Barnhart, so that is now at capacity.

July 5: The Diamondbacks are “likely” to promote pitching prospect Yilber Diaz for his MLB debut next week, according to Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. The right-hander would get the ball to start Monday night’s series opener against the Braves. Diaz is not on the 40-man roster, but the Diamondbacks currently have an open spot on the 40-man, so they would not need to make a corresponding move to select his contract.

Diaz made his professional debut for the D-backs organization in 2021. After pitching to a 4.17 ERA and 3.66 FIP in 14 starts at Double-A between 2023 and ’24, he earned a promotion to Triple-A this June. In four starts with the Reno Aces, he has a 3.27 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 22 innings of work. On the season, he has an impressive 33.2% strikeout rate in 15 outings between Double and Triple-A. The 23-year-old is averaging just over five innings per start.

Diaz is currently ranked as the #16 prospect in the Diamondbacks system, according to MLB Pipeline. Baseball America and Keith Law of the Athletic both had him at #15 on their preseason lists. Eric Longenhagen and Travis Ice of FanGraphs were a little higher on Diaz, ranking him #6 and expressing more faith in both of his breaking balls (a slider and curve) to be potential plus pitches. Ultimately, however, all four sources agreed that the righty’s future is most likely in the bullpen. He throws a mid-90s fastball that can touch the high-90s; if his velocity were to tick up out of the ’pen, he could be a flame-throwing relief weapon.

Yet, for now, Diaz remains a starting pitcher, and he will take on the biggest test of his starting career on Monday. The Braves offense has struggled for much of the season, especially against right-handed pitching. Regardless, they’re going to be a far tougher opponent than a Triple-A club, and Diaz has hardly even faced much Triple-A opposition.

Although the rookie might benefit from a bit more seasoning in the minors, the Diamondbacks are a little desperate for starting pitching after Jordan Montgomery landed on the injured list last week. Rookie Cristian Mena made his MLB debut in Montgomery’s place on Wednesday, but the results were poor. He lasted only three innings, giving up four earned runs on four hits, three walks, and two home runs. Mena struck out just two of the 15 batters he faced, and he has already been optioned back to Triple-A. The only other healthy starting pitcher on Arizona’s 40-man roster who isn’t already in the rotation is Tommy Henry, who has a 7.04 ERA in 38 1/3 MLB innings this season.

Diamondbacks Release Tucker Barnhart

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The D-backs have released veteran catcher Tucker Barnhart following last week’s DFA, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He’s now a free agent.

Barnhart, 33, signed a minor league deal with the Snakes back in January. He’s technically in the second season of a two-year, $6.5MM contract signed with the Cubs in the 2022-23 offseason. Chicago released him from that contract last August after he hit just .202/.285/.257 in 123 plate appearances. The Dodgers quickly scooped him up on a minor league deal but didn’t bring him to the majors before season’s end.

Things didn’t go much better for Barnhart in Arizona. He received a comparable number of plate appearances (96) but also posted comparable results: .173/.287/.210. Meanwhile, 27-year-old Jose Herrera posted a .260/.351/.362 batting line in Triple-A Reno this season, leading the D-backs to go with the younger switch-hitting Herrera as the preferred backup to Gabriel Moreno.

Barnhart was a regular with the Reds from 2015-21 and for a few years graded as one of baseball’s premier defensive catchers. The two-time Gold Glove winner has never been a strong offensive performer, but his bat has dwindled to the point where the benefit from his glove is no longer a a clearly worthwhile trade-off. Barnhart batted .249/.327/.380 during that lengthy run with the Reds but has produced a .208/.286/.255 slash in 527 plate appearances between three teams (Tigers, Cubs, D-backs) since leaving Cincinnati.

Any team seeking catching depth can now sign Barnhart with virtually no risk. He’d only be owed the prorated league minimum for any time spent on a new team’s major league roster/injured list. The Cubs are on the hook for the remainder of this year’s $3.25MM salary.

Ketel Marte Day-To-Day With Back Tightness

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  • Ketel Marte is day-to-day with back tightness, as the Diamondbacks announced after the second baseman made an early exit from yesterday’s 10-8 loss to the Padres.  Manager Torey Lovullo explained to reporters (including MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert) that Marte has been bothered by his back for a few days, and still played eight innings on Friday before requiring a pinch-hitter in the ninth.  The 43-45 D’Backs can only hope that Marte’s back problem doesn’t continue to linger, as the star second baseman has been a big reason why Arizona continues to linger in the wild card race.  Marte is hitting .284/.353/.506 with 17 home runs over 380 PA, and while fans recognized this performance by voting Marte into the NL’s starting lineup for the All-Star Game, this back problem might also raise concerns that he could miss the Midsummer Classic.
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