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Diamondbacks Place Gabriel Moreno On 10-Day Injured List

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The Diamondbacks announced that catcher Gabriel Moreno has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a sprained left thumb.  Jose Herrera has been called up from Triple-A, and Herrera with team with Tucker Barnhart as Arizona’s catching combo until Moreno has recovered.

Moreno’s injury took place in last night’s game, as the backstop’s glove hand was hit by a Cristian Pache foul ball in the third inning.  Moreno tried to stay in the game but the discomfort eventually forced him to make an early exit in the sixth frame.  D’Backs manager Torey Lovullo told media (including Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports) after the game that x-rays were negative on Moreno’s thumb, so the catcher at least avoided a more serious structural injury that would’ve cost him more time or even possibly threatened his season.

Heralded as one of baseball’s top prospects during his time in the Blue Jays’ farm system, Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. were acquired by the D’Backs in exchange for Daulton Varsho during the 2022-23 offseason.  Moreno’s first full season saw him win a Gold Glove, hit .284/.339/.408 in 380 plate appearances, and then excel in Arizona’s playoff run to the NL pennant, seemingly cementing his place as one of the sport’s up and coming stars.

However, the sophomore slump seems to have bitten Moreno in his follow-up campaign, as he has hit only .230/.313/.346 with three homers over 217 PA.  A .261 BABIP hasn’t helped his efforts, though Moreno isn’t making much hard contact.  On the plus side, his strikeout and walk rates are both well above average, and Moreno’s defense remains remains elite.

Diamondbacks Claim Gavin Hollowell From Rockies

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The Diamondbacks have claimed right-hander Gavin Hollowell off waivers from the Rockies, per announcements from both clubs. Arizona already had a 40-man vacancy after designating Logan Allen for assignment last week and have optioned Hollowell to Triple-A. There was no previous indication that Hollowell had lost his spot with the Rockies, so their 40-man count drops to 39.

Hollowell, 26, is a 2019 sixth-rounder who made his big league debut with the Rox in 2023. He’s pitched 40 2/3 innings in the majors across the past two seasons but been hit hard, yielding a 6.20 ERA with a below-average 21.5% strikeout rate and a hefty 11.8% walk rate. He’s also been quite homer-prone, serving up an average of 1.99 round-trippers for every nine innings pitched.

It’s not a strong big league track record, but Hollowell has punched out 32.8% of his opponents in the minors, including a 34% strikeout rate in 48 2/3 Double-A frames and a 26% strikeout rate in 27 1/3 Triple-A innings. Hollowell has averaged a fairly unremarkable 94 mph on his sinker and 93.4 mph on his four-seamer, but the velocity of both pitches plays up because of his enormous 6’7″ frame. He’s also shown solid command throughout his time in professional ball, walking only 8.2% of his opponents in the minors.

Hollowell is in the second of three option years, so Arizona will be able to freely shuttle him between Triple-A Reno and the majors both this season and next. Scouting reports at FanGraphs, Baseball America and MLB.com have tabbed Hollowell as a future reliever with solid command and the potential for an above-average four-seamer (with plus spin) and slider. The Snakes will hope that the change in scenery can not only bolster their own relief corps but also take a potential future contributor away from a division rival.

Diamondbacks Re-Sign Logan Allen To Minors Contract

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TODAY: Allen did elect to become a free agent, but has now re-signed with the Diamondbacks on a new minor league deal.  The southpaw is getting the start today for Triple-A Reno.

JUNE 13: Diamondbacks left-hander Logan Allen went unclaimed on outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Reno, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment over the weekend. Allen has been outrighted in the past and will thus have the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency.

The 27-year-old Allen, not to be confused with the Cleveland southpaw of the same name, appeared in a dozen games for the Diamondbacks and pitched 28 innings. He was tagged for an ugly 5.46 ERA in that time, though the bulk of the damage came in his final outing, when he surrendered six runs in a single inning of work against the Padres. Prior to that collapse, he’d tossed 27 frames of 3.67 ERA ball with a 16.9% strikeout rate, 7.6% walk rate and 44.8% ground-ball rate.

That marked Allen’s first MLB action since 2022. The former eighth-round pick at one point ranked among the sport’s 100 best prospects on several publications and has been in multiple trades of note but has yet to solidify himself as a steady big league contributor. Originally drafted by Boston, he’s since suited up for San Diego, Cleveland and Baltimore in addition to his current run in Arizona, but he’s been hit hard, yielding a 5.79 ERA in 124 1/3 MLB innings.

Blaze Alexander Getting More Reps At Third Base For D-Backs

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Blaze Alexander is starting at third base for the Diamondbacks tonight against Angels righty José Soriano, pushing Eugenio Suárez to the bench. It’s only Alexander’s third start at the hot corner, but that’ll be a more frequent occurrence.

Manager Torey Lovullo told the Arizona beat that Alexander was going to pick up increased playing time at third base (link via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). Lovullo stopped short of calling it a benching for Suárez but he acknowledged tonight is “day number one of a little bit of a change” in how playing time is split.

“I’m very curious about Blaze,” Lovullo said. “Offensively, he’s been playing at a very high level. The defense has been improving rapidly. I just felt like it was time to give him a few more opportunities, a few more reps.” Alexander has been in the lineup for 38 of Arizona’s 67 games. He picked up 16 starts at shortstop, eight games at second base and got 12 nods as the designated hitter along with his pair of third base starts.

The D-Backs reinstated Geraldo Perdomo from the injured list last night. He resumes his role as the everyday shortstop, while Ketel Marte is locked in at second base. Joc Pederson serves as the designated hitter against right-handed pitching. That leaves third base as the only spot for Alexander to get reps, unless the D-Backs wanted to use him on the short side of a platoon with Pederson at DH.

Alexander, 25, has managed decent numbers in his debut campaign. He carries a .279/.345/.403 line over 142 plate appearances. Alexander’s batted ball metrics aren’t aligned with his bottom line output. He’s putting the ball on the ground half the time he puts it in play, and a .371 average on balls in play has masked a 26.1% strikeout rate. Alexander has had a stark platoon divide. He’s hitting .217/.280/.290 over 75 plate appearances against right-handed pitching; he has mashed southpaws to the tune of a .350/.418/.533 slash in 67 trips.

While Alexander has played fairly well, the D-Backs wouldn’t have gotten him more third base reps if not for Suárez’s disappointing year. He’s hitting .197/.263/.312 across 262 plate appearances. Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote over the weekend that the D-Backs were open to trade possibilities on Suárez, though it’d be difficult to offload much of his $12MM salary. Nightengale suggested that Arizona would curtail Suárez’s playing time if he sticks on the roster, and it indeed seems that’ll come to pass.

The D-Backs sent backup catcher Seby Zavala and hard-throwing reliever Carlos Vargas, who has spent the season in Triple-A, to Seattle for Suárez last November. The biggest appeal for the M’s was offloading the final year of Suárez’s contract. Arizona also owes him a $2MM buyout on a $15MM club option that’ll very likely be declined next offseason.

Diamondbacks Sign Erich Uelmen To Minor League Deal

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The Diamondbacks have signed right-hander Erich Uelmen to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to the Complex League for now but will presumably report to a higher affiliate after getting some work in.

Uelmen, now 28, was drafted by the Cubs and was a starter on his way up the minor league ladder. He didn’t have much success in that role as he reached the higher levels, so the Cubs moved him to the bullpen at Triple-A. The initial results were encouraging, as Uelmen finished 2022 with an earned run average of 2.79 in 42 innings at the top minor league level. His 12.8% walk rate was on the high side but he punched out 29.1% of batters faced and also got grounders on 55.3% of balls in play.

The Cubs also gave Uelmen his major league debut that year, as he pitched 27 innings for them that year. He had a passable 4.67 ERA in that time with a subpar 17.2% strikeout rate, average-ish 9.8% walk rate and decent 47.6% ground ball rate.

Late in 2022, the Cubs re-signed Drew Smyly and bumped Uelmen off the roster. He was then traded to the Phillies for cash but had a challenging season with his new club. He only tossed one inning in the majors and just 17 2/3 in the minors, spending a significant amount of time on the IL. He had a 4.08 ERA in that limited minor league action before getting recalled in late September and placed on the major league 60-day IL with a right flexor strain when the Phils needed to open a roster spot.

Uelmen was outrighted by the Phils at the end of the season and remained unsigned until signing with the Snakes. He’ll presumably undergo something of a delayed Spring Training for a little while before moving into a depth position for the Diamondbacks. The relief corps in Arizona hasn’t been strong this year, with a collective 4.38 ERA that comes in 23rd out of the 30 clubs. If Uelmen can earn a roster spot, he has two option years remaining and has less than a year of service time.

Jordan Montgomery Reaches 10 Starts, Unlocks 2025 Player Option

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Jordan Montgomery took the ball for the Diamondbacks tonight in their series opener against the Angels. It’s the tenth start of the season for the left-hander, an expected but notable threshold. It officially unlocks a 2025 player option in his contract with a base value of $20MM.

Montgomery had a disappointing first trip through free agency last winter. While he reportedly set out in search of a deal approaching or exceeding the seven years and $172MM which Aaron Nola received from the Phillies, that didn’t materialize. Montgomery lingered on the market longer than any other top free agent before agreeing to terms with the Diamondbacks just before Opening Day. He signed a one-year guarantee with a $25MM salary and the conditional player option.

That triggers at $20MM with his tenth start. Its value would escalate to $22.5MM at 18 starts and max out at $25MM if he starts 23 games. Montgomery wasn’t equipped to make his team debut until April 19. He needed a couple Triple-A appearances to build his workload after sitting out during Spring Training. He’ll still have plenty of time to get to 23 starts and maximize the option value if he stays healthy.

At signing, the conditional player option looked more like injury protection than anything else. Montgomery certainly anticipated declining it and heading back to free agency in search of the long-term deal that eluded him last offseason. Yet his early-season performance hasn’t positioned him well for a return trip to the market.

After tossing 5 2/3 innings of three-run ball tonight, Montomgery carries a 6.58 earned run average across 52 innings. He has punched out just 13.7% of batters faced — easily the lowest rate of his career and nearly eight percentage points below last season’s 21.4% mark. His 8.2% walk rate is a couple points above its typical level. Montgomery entered tonight’s outing averaging roughly 92 MPH on both his sinker and four-seam fastball. Each pitch sat north of 93 MPH last year.

It’s difficult to say how much of that drop-off is attributable to Montgomery’s late signing and atypical preparation for the season. Perhaps he’ll find the extra tick of velocity and more closely resemble his old self as the year progresses. Before his stint in the desert, Montgomery had been the picture of consistency. He reached the 30-start threshold in each season between 2021-23. The southpaw allowed between three and four earned runs per nine with solid strikeout and walk rates in all three years.

Signing Montgomery punctuated an aggressive offseason for an Arizona team looking to build off its Cinderella pennant run. The Snakes had already brought back Lourdes Gurriel Jr., acquired Eugenio Suárez and landed Eduardo Rodriguez on a four-year deal to stabilize the rotation. None of those transactions is off to an auspicious start. Gurriel is hitting at a league average level. Montgomery has struggled. Suárez has hit poorly enough that the Snakes are reportedly considering alternatives at third base and could try to offload some of his $12MM salary. Rodriguez suffered a lat strain during Spring Training and has been on the injured list all season.

That has contributed to a disappointing 31-35 start that has Arizona sitting in fourth place in the NL West. The prevailing mediocrity beyond the top four teams in the National League nevertheless provides hope for everyone other than the Rockies and Marlins. The final two Wild Card spots are currently held by teams at or below .500. Despite being four games under, the Snakes are one game out of the postseason picture.

Along with Rodriguez’s absence, the D-Backs have been without Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly for the past few weeks. Montgomery is the most established member of a rotation that also includes Brandon Pfaadt, Ryne Nelson and Slade Cecconi at the moment. Gallen and Kelly have begun throwing programs.

Since Montgomery opened the season on an assignment to Triple-A, he will not be eligible for a qualifying offer if he hits free agency next winter. His slow start and the player option would complicate any efforts to trade him if Arizona falls out of the playoff race. The D-Backs have roughly $64MM in guaranteed commitments for next season, as calculated by RosterResource.

Montgomery’s option could push that into the $84-89MM range depending on how many starts he makes. The D-Backs will almost certainly exercise a $7MM option to retain Kelly and would owe Gallen a raise on this year’s $10.011MM salary for his final year of arbitration. Christian Walker, Joc Pederson and Paul Sewald are their top impending free agents. Montgomery could still join them, but it’d take a better second half than he has managed thus far. If he does retest the market, he’ll be doing so with new representation. Montgomery switched from the Boras Corporation to Wasserman in April.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

D-backs Could Look To Move Eugenio Suarez

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The Diamondbacks could be in the market to move on from one of their top offseason acquisitions, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote in his Sunday Notes column that the Snakes are “willing to listen to offers” on third baseman Eugenio Suarez. That’s perhaps some charitable terminology, as Nightengale himself goes on to note that the 33-year-old Suarez has struggled to the point that he could soon lose his hold on an everyday role at third base.

Suarez, acquired in a salary-driven trade that sent backup catcher Seby Zavala and relief prospect Carlos Vargas to the cost-cutting Mariners, is earning $12MM this season and has a $15MM club option for the 2025 campaign on his contract. The Diamondbacks do not intend to exercise that option at this time, per Nightengale, which is only natural given Suarez’s bleak .200/.265/.317 slash in his first 257 trips to the plate with Arizona.

While Suarez hasn’t seen his already hefty strikeout rate creep any further north — he fanned in 30.4% of last year’s plate appearances and is at 28.8% in 2024 — there are nevertheless plenty of worrying trends that suggest his decline isn’t necessarily an early-season fluke. He’s chasing pitches off the plate at the highest rate of his career and making contact on said swings at a career-low rate. His average exit velocity (87.5 mph) and hard-hit rate (33.5%) have cratered from last year’s levels (90.3 mph and 43%). Suarez has never seen a larger percentage of his fly-balls be of the infield fly variety, either; after popping out to the infield only 10 times in both 2022 and 2023, he’s already hit eight harmless infield pops this season.

Suarez actually got out to a hot start this season, and even as his production began slipping a bit in the second half of April, his batting line to that point in the season was within arm’s reach of league-average. Since the calendar flipped to May, his bat has taken a nosedive. In his past 131 plate appearances, Suarez is hitting .161/.221/.280 with a 30.5% strikeout rate.

Finding a trade partner for Suarez in light of recent swoon and considerable salary won’t be easy. Generally, veterans in this situation are likelier to be designated for assignment and released. But there’s also typically at least one or two exchanges of bad contracts every deadline season, with last year’s Guardians/Dodgers swap of Noah Syndergaard and Amed Rosario standing as one recent example. With four players signed through at least 2026 and three through 2027, the D-backs might not want to take on a particularly long-term player, but swapping out Suarez for another impending free agent or perhaps someone signed through 2025 at a lesser annual value could make some sense.

Despite his downturn at the plate, Suarez has accounted for nearly every inning at third base for the D-backs this season. Jace Peterson got one start there before being cut loose. Rookie Blaze Alexander has made three appearances there (two starts). All three have come in the past 12 days, however, lending further credence to Nightengale’s assertion that Suarez could soon be pushed out of his regular role.

Alexander, 24, is a natural shortstop who’s hit .283/.345/.409 in his first 139 MLB plate appearances this season. That line is propped up by the disproportionate rate at which the right-handed-hitting Alexander has been platooned. He’s seen nearly half his plate appearances against lefties and tormented them with a .350/.409/.533 batting line. Against right-handed pitchers, Alexander’s .224/.288/.299 slash doesn’t look any better than Suarez’s season-long numbers.

The top alternative in the upper minors would be Deyvison De Los Santos, who’s in the midst of a breakout after failing to make the Guardians’ roster as a Rule 5 Draft pick. In 238 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A this season, the 20-year-old slugger touts a combined .358/.412/.656 batting line and 17 home runs. He’s also trimmed his strikeout rate from the 26% he logged in Double-A a year ago to a much stronger 21.4%.

All in all, the D-backs rank 29th in the majors in terms of production from their third basemen, by measure of wRC+. Their combined .200/.258/.317 slash is 36% worse than average when weighting for home park and league run-scoring environment, leading only the White Sox (.197/.248/.288, 52 wRC+).

Phillies Showing Trade Interest In Jake McCarthy

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As the Phillies look to put some final touches on a talented roster, Philadelphia is “keeping an eye on” Jake McCarthy as possible outfield help, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes.  Such a trade would naturally depend on whether or not the Diamondbacks are still in the playoff race by the deadline, and even if not, Arizona would still be hesitant about moving an outfielder who is controlled through the 2028 season.

McCarthy has been been frequently mentioned in trade rumors in the past, even if his stock has ebbed and flowed over his first two full MLB seasons.  McCarthy finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2022 and was subsequently a much-discussed figure that offseason as the D’Backs looked to sell from their surplus of left-handed hitting outfielders.  (Daulton Varsho ended up being the outfielder moved in the December 2022 trade that brought Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to the desert.)

However, McCarthy ran into a sophomore slump last year, hitting .243/.318/.326 over 312 plate appearances and he was demoted to Triple-A, before an oblique injury then sidelined him for the Diamondbacks’ playoff run.  As per a report from Nightengale in February, Arizona offered the White Sox either McCarthy or Dominic Fletcher in a trade for pitching prospect Cristian Mena this past winter, with Chicago opting to take Fletcher.

If McCarthy’s Diamondbacks tenure really was that close to coming to an end, he has done well in his second act with the club.  McCarthy hit his third homer of the season in today’s game against the Padres, and entered Sunday’s action hitting .268/.354/.370 over his first 160 PA.  Today’s home run was a rarity for a player who hasn’t shown much power and whose barrel and hard-hit ball rates are both mediocre — McCarthy’s 22.5% hard-hit ball rate ranks only in the second percentile of all batters.

A .327 BABIP has accounted for a good chunk of McCarthy’s success, but his excellent speed has also been a benefit in turning some of those balls in play into extra hits.  His strikeout and walk rates are both above average, and on the defensive side, McCarthy has been roughly average to slightly below average as a right fielder.  The D’Backs have deployed McCarthy in left and center field on occasion, but he has mostly been used in a right field platoon with the right-handed hitting Randal Grichuk.  Oddly, McCarthy has hit southpaws much better than he has right-handed pitchers this season, with a .917 OPS in 32 PA against lefties and a .674 OPS in 128 against righties.

Between his years of control, his age (27 next month), and his past draft pedigree as the 39th overall pick in 2018, McCarthy would be far from a rental piece for the Phillies for any team looking to pry the outfielder away from Arizona.  The Phils’ acquisition of Brandon Marsh from the Angels at the 2022 trade deadline could be a comp here, as that deal also saw Philadelphia land a left-handed hitting outfielder with some past prospect appeal who hadn’t quite gotten it all together at the MLB level.  That one-for-one deal saw the Phillies land Marsh for Logan O’Hoppe, another well-regarded young player who was blocked at catcher by J.T. Realmuto, so the Phils and Angels mutually addressed each other’s needs for outfield and catching help.

Marsh has gone on to become a solid regular in the Philadelphia outfield, this season acting as the strong side of a left-field platoon with Whit Merrifield.  Marsh is currently on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring injury that isn’t considered too serious, so in the event that McCarthy was acquired, the Phillies would likely view him as a left-handed hitting complement to Johan Rojas in center field and even Nick Castellanos in right field.

Rojas hasn’t hit at all this season and his once-impressive center field glove has been much closer to average.  Castellanos’ defensive limitations are well-known but the bigger issue has been his bat, as Castellanos is hitting .215/.275/.360 with nine homers over 269 PA.  The veteran is on pace for the second negative-fWAR season in his three years with Philadelphia, which isn’t a great sign considering that Castellanos is still owed $40MM over the remaining two years of his five-year, $100MM contract.

The lack of production from Castellanos or Rojas hasn’t much slowed the Phillies down in their run to the NL’s best record, but the outfield does stand out as a natural area to address as one of the club’s relatively few weak links.  Acquiring a rental player at the deadline might be a more logical idea for the Phils given how Castellanos will still be in the mix for the next two years, and trading for a shorter-term outfielder would come at a much lesser prospect cost than McCarthy’s price tag.

Since only four National League teams are above the .500 mark, the Diamondbacks are still just outside the wild card picture despite their unimpressive 30-35 record.  There is still plenty of time for the reigning NL champions to turn things around, and the D’Backs would have to be pretty decidedly out of the running at the deadline for the front office to turn to selling, considering that the team has invested heavily in trying to remain a top contender.

Even if Arizona does sell, impending free agents and veteran players figure to be the team’s first options for trade candidates before getting around to considering moving controllable players like McCarthy.  Even if it’s true that the D’Backs were willing to take Mena (not a highly-touted pitching prospect) for McCarthy last winter, Arizona might be in a position to demand more in return for McCarthy now, given his improved numbers and some extra leverage the Diamondbacks might hold in shopping him to needy contenders come July 30.

Diamondbacks Designate Logan Allen For Assignment

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The Diamondbacks announced this morning that they’ve designated left-hander Logan Allen for assignment. Lefty Tommy Henry was recalled to the majors in a corresponding move to replace Allen on the club’s active roster.

Allen, 27, is not to be confused with the 25-year-old Guardians left-hander of the same name despite the fact that he too was once a fairly well-regarded prospect in Cleveland’s farm system. Acquired from the Padres in the three-team blockbuster that sent Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes to Cleveland, Trevor Bauer to Cincinnati, and Taylor Trammell to San Diego, Allen pitched only briefly for Cleveland in the majors prior to the 2021 season, where he struggled badly with a 6.26 ERA in 50 1/3 innings of work across 14 appearances (11 starts).

The peripherals matched that lackluster performance. Allen struck out just 16.7% of batters faced while walking 7.7% and allowing an eye-popping 22.2% of his fly balls to leave the yard for home runs. Even with a solid 45.1% groundball rate, those brutal results and the peripherals that indicated they were largely deserved left the Guardians to part ways with Allen in May of 2022. He was initially claimed off waivers by the Orioles, although he struggled through just three appearances with Baltimore before they too designated him for assignment. This time, he passed through waivers successfully and was assigned outright to the minors.

The lefty spent a few months in the Orioles minor league system before eventually getting released and signing with the Rockies on a minor league deal that August. He remained in Colorado into the 2023 season but was released in mid-July, though he found a job with the Mariners just weeks later. Across four organizations and two seasons, Allen struggled badly at the Triple-A level with a 5.77 ERA in 110 2/3 innings of work and never sniffed the majors after he was outrighted by the Orioles. Nonetheless, Allen was able to find a minor league pact with the Diamondbacks this winter. Unlike his past minor league deals, this time Allen found some success with a 3.00 ERA in 12 innings of work with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Reno.

That was enough for the Snakes to decide to call Allen up to the majors as a long relief option in mid-April. He’s made 12 appearances for the Diamondbacks since then, often pitching as many as three or four innings at a time, and had generally impressed with a 3.67 ERA and 3.84 FIP through his first 11 outings as a Diamondback. Unfortunately, the lefty was torched for six runs on six hits (including a home run) and a walk in one inning of work against the Padres last night, a disastrous outing that ballooned his ERA to 5.46 and his FIP to 4.31. With Arizona in need of a fresh arm and Allen out of option years, that left Arizona to DFA him in order to get Henry, who has acted as optionable starting pitching depth for the Diamondbacks since his debut in 2022, onto the roster.

Arizona will now have one week to either trade Allen or attempt to pass him through waivers. If Allen clears waivers successfully, the Diamondbacks would be able to outright him to the minor leagues, although he’d have the right to reject such an assignment as a player who has already been outrighted previously in his career. It’s not inconceivable that a pitching-needy team would be willing to look past Allen’s rough outing against San Diego last night and take a chance on him based on his previous 11 appearances, although it’s also possible the lefty’s shake results both at Triple-A and in the majors prior to joining the Diamondbacks could turn otherwise intrigued clubs away.

Diamondbacks Select Humberto Castellanos

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The D-Backs announced they’ve selected right-hander Humberto Castellanos onto the major league roster. Arizona also recalled lefty reliever Joe Jacques from Triple-A Reno, a move which was reported this afternoon. To clear the necessary spots on the MLB roster, the Snakes optioned southpaw Brandon Hughes and placed lefty Blake Walston on the 15-day injured list with inflammation in his throwing elbow. Arizona also reinstated righty Luis Frías from the 15-day IL and optioned him to Reno.

Arizona had an opening on the 40-man roster, which they’ll use to give Castellanos his first MLB look in two years. The Mexican-born hurler pitched in 25 games, including 16 starts, for the D-Backs between 2021-22. He turned in a 5.30 ERA over 90 innings before undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2022. That led Arizona to outright him off their roster at the end of the season and forced him to sit out all of last year.

The Diamondbacks brought Castellanos back on a minor league contract over the winter. He’s healthy again and has logged 43 2/3 innings over 10 appearances in Triple-A. Castellanos has a 4.57 earned run average that is quite impressive considering Reno is among the toughest places to pitch in affiliated ball. He has punched out a solid 24.3% of opposing hitters, although he has also issued walks at a career-high 11.4% rate.

For most of his MLB career, Castellanos has shown the opposite profile: plus control without the ability to miss many bats. He has a modest 16.6% strikeout rate with a 7.3% walk percentage in 100 2/3 innings between the Astros and D-Backs. Castellanos doesn’t throw especially hard, but he can work out of the rotation or in long relief for Torey Lovullo. He still has a minor league option, allowing the Diamondbacks to send him back to Reno at any point without putting him on waivers.

Walston, a first-round pick in 2019, has made his first three MLB appearances this season. The North Carolina native has allowed four runs over 12 2/3 innings, striking out 11 against nine walks. It’s not clear how long he’ll be out of action. The Diamondbacks will presumably play things cautiously with any elbow issue for one of their more talented young pitchers.

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