Headlines

  • Rangers Option Josh Jung
  • Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement
  • Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture
  • Braves Designate Alex Verdugo For Assignment
  • Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin
  • Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Latest On D-Backs’ Rotation

By Anthony Franco | March 20, 2023 at 11:28pm CDT

The Diamondbacks entered Spring Training with four rotation spots in place. Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly are the top two on the staff. Madison Bumgarner will get another crack in the middle, while Arizona brought back Zach Davies on a one-year free agent deal to take a back-end spot.

Who would secure the fifth spot was one of the more interesting decisions for the Snakes in camp. As MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald explored in early January, that battle looked likely to come down to four hurlers: Ryne Nelson, Drey Jameson, Tommy Henry and Brandon Pfaadt. Jameson and Nelson, both of whom made their big league debuts late in the 2022 season, seemed the early favorites.

That indeed now appears to be a two-person race. Arizona reassigned Pfaadt, who is not yet on the 40-man roster, to minor league camp over the weekend. They optioned Henry to Triple-A Reno this afternoon, taking him out of consideration for an Opening Day job as well.

Neither Jameson nor Nelson has done much to seize the job this spring. The former has allowed eight runs in 9 2/3 innings, while the latter has been tagged for nine runs in the same amount of work. Jameson has at least managed a solid 12:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio, while Nelson’s 10:6 mark is less impressive.

Both pitchers fared well in very limited MLB looks last year. Jameson made four starts and posted a microscopic 1.48 ERA through 24 1/3 innings. That came with an excellent 56.1% grounder percentage and above-average strikeout and walk numbers. It was a very strong debut effort but won’t completely erase concerns about the ghastly 6.95 ERA he’d posted over the 114 Triple-A innings he’d thrown prior to his promotion. Reno is among the hardest places in affiliated ball to pitch, which certainly didn’t do him any favors. That said, some prospect evaluators have suggested the Ball State product is likelier to settle into a bullpen role than a rotation because of concerns about his command.

Nelson has had some relief concerns himself, though he’s generally credited for more advanced command than Jameson. He doesn’t throw quite as hard and didn’t miss as many bats in his brief big league look as Jameson did. Nelson had similarly strong bottom line numbers in a cup of coffee, however, allowing four runs in 18 1/3 big league frames. Over 136 innings in Reno, he’d posted a 5.43 ERA with roughly average strikeout and walk numbers.

Henry had the most MLB work of this group in 2022, starting nine games. He didn’t find the early success of Jameson or Nelson, pitching to a 5.36 ERA with below-average strikeout and walk rates in 47 innings. Henry allowed 11 runs in 16 1/3 frames in camp before being optioned. Pfaadt is arguably held in the highest regard of the bunch but is the only one who hasn’t made his big league debut. The 24-year-old made 19 starts at Double-A Amarillo and 10 with Reno last season, combining for a 3.83 ERA in 167 innings. He allowed five runs with 15 strikeouts and four walks in 12 innings this spring.

Share 0 Retweet 4 Send via email0

Arizona Diamondbacks Brandon Pfaadt Drey Jameson Ryne Nelson Tommy Henry

Matt Foster Diagnosed With Forearm Strain
Main
The Opener: WBC, Profar, MLBTR Chats
View Comments (17)
Post a Comment

17 Comments

  1. scottaz

    2 years ago

    As expected, the opening day 5th rotation spot comes down to Nelson or Jameson. But make the distinction between opening day and the total 2023 season. All 4 will definitely start games for the Dbacks in 2023.

    At season’s end, expect MadBum and Davies to be long gone, with 3 of the 4 in the starting rotation and the other probably in the bullpen for aWild Card team that no one will want to face.

    2
    Reply
    • sufferforsnakes

      2 years ago

      Let’s hope.

      Reply
  2. Edub23

    2 years ago

    Should have traded Dalton Varsho to the Marlins for Pablo Lopez when they had the chance.

    2
    Reply
    • Dorothy_Mantooth

      2 years ago

      @Edub23 – While Pablo Lopez would have been a nice addition to the 2023 Diamondbacks, Moreno will end up providing more value to Arizona than Lopez would have over their remaining careers. You don’t see many trades like this in baseball anymore; it should pay off for both Toronto and Arizona.

      8
      Reply
  3. Dorothy_Mantooth

    2 years ago

    I was hoping to see Pfaadt win a spot in the rotation. He has the best stuff of all the options they have and he had a great season in 2022. Also, he wasn’t that bad this spring. 5 runs over 12 innings = 3.75 ERA and the 15 K’s in those 12 inning equates to 11.25 K’s/9. If their fourth or fifth starter struggles, I’d expect Pfaadt to be the next man up and make his major league debut. The Diamondbacks are building an interesting squad in the desert. The major league team has a fair amount of talented youth on it today and they have some serious prospect talent on the cusp of making it to the majors as well. Provided they can keep Gallen, they should be ready to compete for a playoff spot come 2025 even with the Dodgers, Padres & Giants in their division.

    Reply
  4. Backup Catcher to the Backup Catcher

    2 years ago

    Gotta be a really slow news day when one of MLBTR’s highlight stories involves the battle to become Arizona’s fifth SP!

    D=Backs have a good chance to finish third this year in the NL West. That’s the good news. The bad news is 75 wins might get that done.

    1
    Reply
    • gbs42

      2 years ago

      Baseball news does tend to be rather slow this time of the year. However, it’s interesting to see which of these prospects will step up and which will get bypassed by others.

      1
      Reply
  5. Seamaholic

    2 years ago

    Totally don’t get the love for the Dbacks chances to compete this year. It’s coming, but it’s a ways away. I don’t see much more on this team than the Rockies, to be honest. Maybe less. Varsho was a big loss, and they’re completely dependent on Gallen and Kelly knocking it out of the park again (and staying healthy) with a mediocre pen and rookies and ok vets all over the lineup.

    1
    Reply
    • jdgoat

      2 years ago

      I think they’ll be a fine team who can put up a fight but they’re almost guaranteed to finish at best third in the division and I don’t think they’d be able to beat out which ever two of NYM/Atlanta/Philly who don’t win the division for a wild card spot.

      2
      Reply
    • highheat

      2 years ago

      “I don’t see much more on this team than the Rockies, to be honest. Maybe less.” Here’s the opportunity to back that honesty up with some facts. What roster positions do the Rockies have superior players at?

      Bryant MAY be a better option in RF than what the DBacks have (pending his health), but the DBacks are better equipped in CF and LF (and overall OF depth). That’s about it for position players.

      Walker is certainly better than anything the Rockies have at 1B; a healthy Marte (which he has been so far) is better than anything the Rockies have at 2B; Ahmed (regardless of health, and he’s been healthy as well) is better equipped to play SS at the MLB level than Tovar; DBacks have a safer bet for production at 3B (unless you’re trying to tell me that Moustakas is a more viable option in your eyes than Rojas); Moreno or Kelly are better than anything the Rockies have at C (and the DBacks have both).

      If there is an area where the Rockies are better, it’s sure not on the position player side (and it’s definitely not a defensive or baserunning edge that Colorado has); so where are they superior in pitching?

      I’ll give you that any rotation spot that Bumgarner occupies is unlikely to be a point in favor (in this case that’s the #3 spot), but the DBacks have the better #1 and #2. Davies is pretty much just eating innings at #4, but I don’t know that you can definitively say that Gomber is a better option. And Jameson/Nelson aren’t just rookies, they’re accepted to be MLB ready by industry concensus and are Top 100 prospects working with a pitching guru.

      I can give you that the Rockies have more established bullpen arms at the MLB level, but they also have significant drop off in talent (whereas the the DBacks drop-off in talent is much less steep). Calling the DBacks ‘pen mediocre isn’t actually as bad as you’re suggesting. Mediocre is average, and average is a large improvement from league worst (which they won 74 games with last season).

      With all of that in mind, is it possible that the “honesty” you were attempting to share is less about you not seeing anything regarding the DBacks, and more about you not actually paying attention to anything regarding the DBacks?

      That’s fine if that’s the case, but the weight of your opinion regarding a topic is directly proportional to how much information you have that’s rooted in observable reality. Just be honest on your degree of observation so people can attach appropriate value to your opinion.

      2
      Reply
      • scottaz

        2 years ago

        greatgame2

        Last year the starters for the Dbacks ranked 19th in the league as a collective unit by ERA. Gallen will compete again for Cy Young honors in the NL. Kelly is above average as a #2, is consistent from start to start and will give the Dbacks a chance to win on each of his 30-33 starts. I expect Bumgarner to regress positively a little bit this year before he is traded mid season. Davies is Davies, not exciting but steady, reliable, until he is traded mid season. So the top 4 return from last year, and will be maybe slightly better overall, but only slightly better. The difference makers in this year’s starting rotation are the #5 spot and the second half of the season. All 4 of Pfaadt, Nelson, Jameson and Henry are vastly superior to Castellanos, Kueckel, Gilbert, Smith and the other starters who tried to fill the #5 spot in the rotation last year. In fact, Pfaadt, Nelson and Jameson are better than any of the first 4 except Gallen. So, if they fill the other 3 spots in the rotation behind Gallen and Kelly in the second half of the season, even as rookies/first year pitchers, the staff will be much improved over the 2022 squad. I think they will finish the season as the 12-15th best starters by ERA, which makes them above average.

        1
        Reply
  6. Old York

    2 years ago

    Quote: Madison Bumgarner will get another crack in the middle,

    – The guy is signed through the 2024 season, of course he’s going to be in the rotation.

    Side note: I like the first picture of him clean shaven on Baseball Reference. Looks like such an innocent, young man.

    Reply
  7. BigFred

    2 years ago

    They could drop MadBum and move up a few spots.

    2
    Reply
  8. greatgame 2

    2 years ago

    This rotation is very weak

    2
    Reply
    • scottaz

      2 years ago

      greatgame2

      Please see my comment above about the starting rotation you say is “weak”, 19th in the league by ERA is not weak, it was best characterized as below average.

      What was weak last year for the Dbacks was their bullpen. In fact they were arguably worst in the league.

      This year, since you can’t get any worse than worst, they will be improved. The huge question mark surrounding the 2023 Dbacks is how good or bad will the bullpen be? On paper, they look significantly better. The two biggest knocks on the 2023 bullpen are a lack of a reliable Closer, and the unproven quality of all the new arms brought in this year.

      With the injury to Melancon (which many Dback fans consider a blessing!), there are only 3 holdovers from that disastrous 2022 squad—All-Star Joe Mantiply, Kyle Nelson and Kevin Ginkel. The one proven arm brought in was Andrew Chafin. Here is where the questions begin. Who else fills out the bullpen roster in 2023?

      Can McCough convert his overseas success to the MLB? Can Familia regain his early career success? And can the assortment of power arms brought in this year consistently throw strikes? Because of the number of quality new arms brought in, even if multiple relievers fail, there are enough to plug the rest of the bullpen spots with quality, and enough young guys who may develop by mid season to add to that depth.

      So there is some justifiable optimism to expect this unit to rise from worst to average.

      Reply
    • lamars

      2 years ago

      Not even a Diamondback fan, but your comment is weak and shows you have no idea of what you are talking about. Gallen is an ace and will be in the cy young conversation again. Kelly is a clear cut #2 and has improved, Davies is an inning eater and they just have to hope Bumgarner doesn’t regress. Plus they have Nelson, Jameson and Pfaadt on the rise.

      Reply
  9. scottaz

    2 years ago

    saratoga

    Appreciate your sarcasm, disagree with your assessment.

    1
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Braves Designate Alex Verdugo For Assignment

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Pirates Reportedly Have Very Few Untouchable Players At Trade Deadline

    Griffin Canning Believed To Have Suffered Achilles Injury

    Mariners Looking For Corner Infield Bats; Ownership Willing To Bump Payroll

    Wander Franco Found Guilty Of Sexual Abuse

    Mariners Place Rowdy Tellez On Release Waivers

    Max Meyer To Undergo Season-Ending Hip Surgery

    Whit Merrifield Announces Retirement

    White Sox Sign Noah Syndergaard To Minor League Deal

    Recent

    MLB Mailbag: Braves, Cubs, Sasaki, Angels, Volpe

    MLBTR Podcast: Depleted Mets’ Pitching, The Pirates Are Open For Business, And More!

    Trade Deadline Outlook: Washington Nationals

    Mets To Select Rico Garcia

    D-Backs, Seth Brown Agree To Deal

    D-Backs GM Mike Hazen Discusses Deadline Possibilities

    Orioles Sign Jose Barrero To Minor League Deal

    Zach Pop Elects Free Agency

    MLB Announces 2025 All-Star Starting Hitters

    Diamondbacks Designate Kyle Nelson For Assignment

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version