The Diamondbacks have signed utilityman Yairo Munoz to a minor league deal, as indicated on the team’s list of non-roster invitees to Spring Training. Munoz elected free agency after being outrighted off the Phillies’ 40-man roster following the season.
Munoz signed a minors deal with Philadelphia last winter and ended up appearing in 29 games for the NL champions, hitting .211/.250/.404 with three homers over 60 plate appearances. His time on the active roster mostly coincided with Jean Segura’s stint on the 60-day injured list, as Munoz saw a lot of action at second base while Segura was recovering from a broken finger. Most of Munoz’s other playing time came as pinch-hitter, pinch-runner, or late-game defensive sub.
Beginning his career as a shortstop, Munoz has settled into a role as a versatile fill-in at second or third base, or either corner outfield spot in a pinch. Josh Rojas has a similar role in more of an everyday capacity with the D’Backs, and might be bounced around the diamond a bit more in 2023 now that Evan Longoria could handle some third base action when not DH’ing. Emmanuel Rivera, Geraldo Perdomo, Diego Castillo, and other non-roster invites Jake Hager and Phillip Evans are among the names who will be competing with Munoz to win a job on Arizona’s bench.
Munoz has appeared in each of the last five Major League seasons, with 108 of his 242 career games coming in his 2018 rookie season with the Cardinals. After an impressive .273/.350/.413 performance over 329 PA in that first season, Munoz has since struggled to recapture that form, and left the Cardinals under rather controversial circumstances during Spring Training in 2020. Munoz then caught on with the Red Sox, appearing in only 17 MLB games with Boston in 2020-21.
well i guess the d-backs need more shortstops, why not!
I thought his bat could play in Boston. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stay healthy for his opportunities. Always liked him and wish nothing but the best
Uh oh, no guaranteed major league playing time. He’s a flight risk!
If he was half as good as he thinks he is, he’d be amazin’
Ah, a graduate of the Jurickson Profar Academy of Aggrandizement. ALWAYS be your own biggest fan, and ALWAYS overestimate your skills and abilities.
Filler for veterans resting during spring training.
AAA fodder. It will be interesting to see how Tory Lovullo and co. balance AB’s for Longoria/Rojas/Rivera/Lewis/McCarthy
They’ve already said outright (Hazen and Longoria) that they intend to utilize Longoria in a platoon with Rojas at 3B, so it’s easy to imagine that Rivera starts the season at AAA to fill in in case either gets hurt (to jump in 1:1 for Longo, or have Longo take some of the RHP load off of Rivera’s plate; or the latter case also if Marte is injured and Rojas needs to cover 2B).
Lewis and Gurriel Jr. were both acquired to minimize the LHP PAs that Carroll sees (so they can ease him and Smith/Thomas in against LHP as well), and McCarthy was actually platoon neutral last season.
So Lewis/Gurriel Jr. cover the COF against LHP with McCarthy in CF most of the time (until Carroll/Thomas show results), and the RHP OF is Carroll, McCarthy, and Smith/Thomas (either or) with Gurriel Jr. covering most of the RHP PAs at DH.
The article also mentions the backup IF spot up for grabs, but Rivera, Hager, and Evans aren’t really options without many injuries occurring (except Rivera who can jump into the earlier mentioned time share).
It’s really more like Perdomo (who looked more settled in offensively/defensively as the season wore on), Castillo (possibly more of developmental project that can cover SS), and Alexander (who has a restructured swing since Alternate Site training, and an absolute Cannon with a fit at every position; don’t sleep on him) in the race; Perdomo has the leg up due to MLB experience and a high-floor, but he’s not home scott-free quite yet.
Whoever wins the spot should get a decent amount of PAs trying to keep Marte and Ahmed fresh. And the only other position player spot up for grabs is the Smith/Thomas battle. Hazen is quite attached to Smith (and he had a decent DWL stint) and Thomas could likely use time for mechanical tweaks, so it looks like Pavin has the leg up here.
Utility man depth, could actually be ok.
I think they will get more use out of Diego Castillo. He had some big hits against the cubs and he looks like a play anywhere type.
Munoz isn’t likely to see MLB time unless there’s an apocalyptic wave of injuries, and Castillo was really only good against LHP last season; which Marte and Ahmed were as well (and they just added Longoria after trading for Rivera mid-season), so he’s a bit redundant for a while.
Castillo is not likely to see much MLB time unless 2-3 SS or 2B options are injured/struggling, or he has a breakthrough sufficient enough to jump one of the others on the Depth Chart.
Technically another (quicker) path to play time for Castillo is the Front Office believing he can be a passable defender in RF (with McKay’s instruction), and an injury occurring to Gurriel Jr. or Lewis allowing him to get PAs against LHP. But you can’t necessarily bet on breakthroughs unless you have a particularly talented developmental department, and even then it’s questionable still.
I do look forward to seeing why they thought he was good enough for a 40-man spot with a looming roster crunch, though.
I saw him kill a cpl balls last season and he is a fun guy to watch but I agree he won’t see a ton of time unless there is an injury.