The Diamondbacks recalled right-hander Cristian Mena to start tonight’s game with the Dodgers. Arizona optioned reliever Gavin Hollowell to Triple-A Reno to create an active roster spot.
Mena is already on the 40-man roster. The White Sox selected his contract before last winter’s Rule 5 draft. Chicago traded Mena, one of their more talented pitching prospects, to take a flier on young outfielder Dominic Fletcher. Arizona optioned him out of Spring Training. Mena had spent the entire season in Reno, tossing 82 2/3 innings across 16 starts.
The surface results aren’t especially impressive. Mena owns a 4.90 earned run average. His 24.4% strikeout percentage is solid, but he has walked 10.4% of opponents. Mena has allowed 1.63 home runs per nine innings despite a decent 47% grounder rate. The home runs are likely a product of the extreme hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League.
Mena is one of the younger pitchers in Triple-A. He turned 21 last December. Baseball America ranked him 14th in the Arizona system over the winter, crediting him with a well-rounded arsenal headlined by a plus curveball. Keith Law of the Athletic ranked Mena ninth among D-Backs prospects in February with similar praise for his breaking ball. Both outlets suggest he could stick as a back-of-the-rotation starter so long as he continues to develop as a strike-thrower.
Tough assignment for Mena, Dodgers at age 21
Acquitted himself well
Seriously? Man, you have become delusional.
What’s delusional about it? The dude is 21 years old and made his debut against one of the best offenses in MLB, and predictably struggled right out of the gate.
Scott was likely referring to how he settled in after the first, which was actually quite an admirable job. His stuff looked good, and even one of the BBs was getting squeezed on a high strike.
I’d prefer he wasn’t getting starts during the roughest portion of the season to date, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to seeing how he handles MLB hitters in his next start.
Not everything is about the stat line; the things to be positive about are frequently beneath the surface level.
The team bailed him out but to his credit he pitched well after that first inning disaster. He’s got the ability to be good. That was a very good trade.