The Diamondbacks are in agreement with Brandon Bielak on a minor league contract, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2. Bielak elected minor league free agency after being waived by the A’s late last fall.
Bielak has pitched in parts of five MLB seasons as a swingman. He spent the first four-plus years with the Astros, a tenure highlighted by his 3.83 ERA across a career-high 80 innings in 2023. Houston carried the out-of-options righty in their bullpen early last year. He struggled to a 5.71 ERA in 10 appearances, leading the Astros to designate him for assignment. They dealt him to the A’s in a cash trade a few days later.
The A’s only kept Bielak on their roster for nine days. They designated him for assignment themselves and ran him through outright waivers. He stuck with the club in Triple-A, where he allowed over six earned runs per nine in 66 2/3 innings. The A’s brought him back up for a couple weeks in September. He concluded the year with a 5.16 ERA with a well below-average 16.4% strikeout percentage over 29 2/3 MLB frames.
Bielak hasn’t missed many bats in the majors. He has an average 22.5% strikeout rate with a 4.42 ERA in parts of five Triple-A campaigns. He’s versatile enough to work as rotation or long relief depth. Arizona’s rotation is deep, so Bielak’s better path to a roster spot is in the bullpen. Barring a late-offseason trade, Jordan Montgomery is likely to begin the year as the long man for skipper Torey Lovullo.
Why?
Can’t say I’m too excited about this one, but it’s not an MLB guarantee; he’s fine enough as an NRI.
Maybe they want to see him simplify his pitch mix? I can squint and see a heavier focus on Sinker/Slider/Change (since he gets above average vertical break on all of them, and they all have qualities that play off of one another; at least in theory)
But good lord, 28% Changeup usage last season with <5 mph separation from the Sinker (and very similar movement profiles) is horrifying. Whoever was making those game calls is insane lol
You could add 2 or 3 more potential major league starters or backup catchers in the White Sox system. They are way overloaded with catchers. Hopefully they can trade one or two of them for outfield prospects. Then again you need 3 or 4 potential major leagues at every position in the minors.