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Diamondbacks Designate Keith Hessler, Promote Zac Curtis

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The Diamondbacks have announced that they’ve selected the contract of lefty Zac Curtis and designated fellow lefty Keith Hessler for assignment. Hessler began the season pitching out of the Double-A Mobile bullpen but was promoted last week. He pitched two scoreless innings against the Cardinals on Tuesday but gave up three runs in an inning against the Rockies yesterday. Hessler also struggled in 12 1/3 innings in the big leagues last season.

Curtis’ promotion is the more unusual of the pair of corresponding moves — it’s not often a team promotes a player to the big leagues who has a 5.23 ERA at Class A+ and no experience above that level. Beyond those superficial numbers, it’s easy to understand the Snakes’ interest in Curtis. He struck out 75 batters in 54 innings at Class A last season and has 22 punchouts against just five walks in 10 1/3 innings thus far this season, and it’s not impossible to imagine a player having big-league success despite a lack of minor-league development if he only has to face batters once per outing. Still, Curtis’ promotion stands out as yet another surprising decision for an Arizona front office that continues to march to the beat of its own drummer.

Diamondbacks Designate Matt Buschmann

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The Diamondbacks have designated righty Matt Buschmann for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot was needed for southpaw Edwin Escobar, who was just claimed off waivers.

Buschmann, 32, had already been optioned back to Triple-A after making his MLB debut earlier in the year. He threw well in three appearances, allowing only one earned run on three hits and an intentional walk over 4 1/3 innings while retiring three via the strikeout.

The Triple-A level represents familiar territory for the minor league veteran. Buschmann has racked up 598 1/3 frames there over parts of eight seasons, most of them as a starter, working to a 5.08 ERA with 7.3 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9.

Diamondbacks Claim Edwin Escobar From Red Sox

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The Red Sox announced on Friday that recently designated-for-assignment left-hander Edwin Escobar has been claimed off waivers by the Diamondbacks.

The 24-year-old Escobar came to the Red Sox alongside right-hander Heath Hembree in the 2014 trade that sent right-hander Jake Peavy to the Giants. Once rated among baseball’s Top 100 prospects by both Baseball America and MLB.com, Escobar’s star has faded since being acquired by the Sox. He worked to a 5.07 ERA in 49 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level last season and, most troubling of all, walked more batters (25) than he struck out (24). Escobar was also homer-prone with Pawtucket last season, surrendering eight long balls in those 49 2/3 frames. His control problems continued this past offseason in the Venezuelan Winter League, when he issued 19 free passes against just nine strikeouts in 27 innings of work.

The D-backs will hope that they can restore Escobar’s control and, in turn, see his production return to its lofty 2013 heights. That season, in 128 2/3 innings between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, Escobar posted a 2.80 ERA with excellent averages of 10.2 strikeouts and 2.1 walks per nine innings pitched.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/23/16

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Here are the latest minor transactions from around baseball:

  • The Twins have called up right-hander Tyler Duffey from Triple-A and optioned infielder Jorge Polanco, the team announced. Duffey will start the Twins’ game Sunday against the Nationals in place of Ervin Santana, who has back tightness. Duffey, 25, broke into the majors last season and was excellent for the Twins, throwing 58 innings of 3.10 ERA ball with an 8.22 K/9 and 3.10 BB/9. Duffey’s standout performance has continued this year in Triple-A Rochester, where he has pitched to a 1.72 ERA and 2.98 FIP in three starts. Polanco, who’s regarded as a top-100 prospect, got the call to Minnesota last week but didn’t last long. The 22-year-old logged only eight plate appearances, giving him 28 in the big leagues since 2014.
  • The Rays wasted no time sending top pitching prospect Blake Snell back to Triple-A after his stellar debut at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune tweets. With Snell returning to Durham, the Rays have selected the contract of right-hander Jhan Marinez. Snell threw five innings of one-run ball in his first major league start, holding the Yankees to two hits and a walk while striking out six. Snell got a no-decision in the Rays’ 3-2 loss. Marinez, 27, could now make his first trip to a major league mound since he picked up 2 2/3 frames for the White Sox in 2012.
  • The Blue Jays have optioned southpaw Chad Girodo to Triple-A to make room for right-hander Drew Hutchison, who will start their game Sunday against the A’s, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (Twitter link). Girodo has tossed two scoreless innings for the Jays this year. Hutchison racked up 62 appearances (60 starts) and 335 innings with the Jays from 2014-15, but he struggled to prevent runs (4.97 ERA) despite a quality K/9 (8.41) and decent BB/9 (2.79).
  • The Marlins have placed third baseman Martin Prado on the paternity list and selected the contract of left-hander Cody Ege, per a club announcement. Ege, 24, will make his major league debut after recording stellar numbers in 161 2/3 minor league innings. Ege owns a 2.23 minors ERA to go with an 11.4 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9.
  • The Diamondbacks have recalled right-hander Enrique Burgos from Triple-A and optioned righty Silvino Bracho, the team announced. Burgos accrued 27 innings out of the D-backs’ bullpen last season and put up a lofty ERA (4.67) that belied an impressive strikeout rate (13.0 per nine). Bracho threw just 1 2/3 innings for Arizona prior to the demotion, surrendering five hits and three earned runs.
  • The Padres have placed utilityman Alexi Amarista on the 15-day DL (retroactive to April 20) with a right hamstring strain and recalled Cesar Vargas from Double-A, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link). Amarista owns a career .229/.277/.325 batting line in 1,601 major league plate appearances, but he was off to a solid start this year (.333/.440/.333 in 26 PAs). Vargas will start the Padres’ game against the Cardinals tonight. The Mexico native could be a diamond in the rough, as Chris Mitchell of Fangraphs details.

 

Earlier Moves

  • The Nationals signed righty Jaron Long to a minor league deal, the team announced. Jaron Long, the son of Mets hitting coach Kevin Long, spent 2013-15 working through the Yankees’ minor league system. Long, 24, has put up some solid totals in the minors (3.26 ERA, 6.8 K/9, 1.6 BB/9), but he hasn’t yet earned a call-up to the majors.
  • The Tigers have claimed catcher John Hicks off waivers from the Twins, Anthony Fenecki of the Detroit Free Press was among those to report (on Twitter). Hicks owns a .279/.325/.408 line in 1,690 minor league PAs and has thrown out a whopping 48 percent of base stealers at various levels. The 26-year-old debuted in the majors last season with the Mariners, collecting only two hits and a walk in 34 trips to the plate.
  • The Blue Jays announced that right-hander Arnold Leon cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A (Twitter link via Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com). Leon gave up two runs in 2 1/3 innings with the Jays before they designated him for assignment April 13. He made his major league debut last year with Oakland and posted a 4.39 ERA in 26 1/3 innings. Leon induced an average amount of ground balls (45.9 percent) and averaged 6.4 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 during that time.
  • The Royals have released minor league left-hander Brandon Zajac, tweets Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. Zajac was a 23rd-round pick of the Giants in 2013.
  • The Braves have recalled lefty reliever Matt Marksberry from Double-A and optioned right-hander Casey Kelly to Triple-A, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com. The Braves needed a fresh arm in place of Kelly, who threw three innings of one-run ball for them on Friday. Marksberry, who has put up a 3.63 ERA over 203 1/3 career minor league innings, tossed 23 1/3 frames for the Braves last season. He compiled a 5.01 ERA to accompany an 8.1 K/9 and 6.2 BB/9.
  • The Mets sent right-hander Rafael Montero to Triple-A to make room for the return of starter Jacob deGrom, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN. New York called up Montero on April 12 and he went on to surrender three earned runs on five hits, one walk and three strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings. DeGrom hasn’t pitched since April 8 because of right lat tightness and medical complications with his recently born son, Jaxon, who was released from the hospital Monday.
  • The Red Sox recalled left-handler Roenis Elias on Friday and sent righty William Cuevas to Triple-A, per the Boston Herald. Elias, whom Boston acquired from Seattle during the offseason in the Wade Miley/Carson Smith trade, will work out of the Red Sox’s bullpen. Elias has made a pair of starts for Pawtucket this year after totaling 49 as a Mariner the previous two seasons. During that time frame, Elias combined for 277 2/3 innings of 3.99 ERA ball to go with a 7.75 K/9 and 3.47 BB/9. Cuevas, who has been in the Boston organization since 2008, made his major league debut this season to poor results before the demotion. The 25-year-old allowed five base runners (three hits and two walks) and two earned runs in 2 1/3 frames.

Patrick Corbin Increasing Pitch Count; Archie Bradley's Velocity Is Up

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  • Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin expanded his pitch count to over 100 on Sunday for the first time since his return from Tommy John surgery, as Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes. The southpaw says he “felt comfortable” in increasing his workload and hopes “it’s something I can do in every start now.” That would certainly be the team’s hope, too, as the bullpen has been worked hard early in the year. It would also offer a chance for the 26-year-old to increase his arbitration earnings in his upcoming second trip through the process; he recorded over 200 frames back in 2013, and a similar showing would set him up for a nice raise. He’s looked good thus far in 2016, working to a 2.75 ERA with 6.4 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 and a 50.0% groundball rate over 19 2/3 frames in three starts.
  • The results haven’t been quite so promising for one-time Diamondbacks top prospect Archie Bradley. As Piecoro reports, there was a silver lining in an otherwise rough season debut yesterday, as Bradley delivered an average fastball of nearly 95 mph and topped out at just over 97. That represented a return to form in the velocity department after he registered lower on the gun in 2015. Of course, Bradley also struggled with control — as he did in his first two Triple-A outings — and notched only two strikeouts. All told, there’s still reason to hope that the 23-year-old can turn into the quality MLB starter he once seemed destined to become, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.

D'Backs Facing Pitching Crunch

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  • With Mac Williamson not getting regular at-bats while sitting on the Giants bench, Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle thinks the team could make another roster move this week to recall a shortstop and more directly fill the spot of injured infielder Ehire Adrianza.  The Giants didn’t want to be “hasty” with a 40-man roster spot to address Adrianza’s loss, though if Ian Gardeck is shifted to the 60-man DL, the team could add an experienced shortstop like Hak-Ju Lee and send Williamson back to everyday duty at Triple-A.
  • The Diamondbacks could be in for a few days’ worth of roster shuffles after using nine pitchers in Saturday’s 14-inning loss to the Padres, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes.  “It could be one of those things where this whole week is flip-flopping people.  [We] might have to go down to 12 position players, too, at some point,” manager Chip Hale said.  Shelby Miller had to leave Saturday’s start after just 1 2/3 innings under odd circumstances, as he twice banged his throwing hand against the mound and scraped his knuckles after extending his follow-through on pitches.  The D’Backs entered Sunday’s action with a league-high 47 1/3 bullpen innings, though Patrick Corbin gave the staff some breathing room by tossing 6 2/3 frames in today’s win.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/17/16

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Here are Sunday’s minor transactions from around baseball:

  • The Diamondbacks announced that they recalled right-handed pitchers Archie Bradley and Evan Marshall and optioned righties Jake Barrett and Matt Buschmann to Triple-A. Arizona needed fresh arms after its 14-inning marathon loss to San Diego on Saturday night, when Barrett and Buschmann combined to throw 4 1/3 innings. If Bradley doesn’t pitch in relief today, the D-backs could start him Monday in place of Rubby De La Rosa, manager Chip Hale said (Twitter link via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). De La Rosa came out of the bullpen Saturday and got two outs before allowing a walk-off home run to Melvin Upton Jr.
  • Pirates shortstop Pedro Florimon accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis, general manager Neal Huntington said (Twitter link via Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). The Pirates outrighted Florimon on Wednesday and he had 72 hours to decide whether to accept the assignment or reject it and become a free agent. The defense-first Florimon has hit a career .199/.262/.295 batting line in 717 plate appearances. He batted .245/.315/.367 for Indianapolis last season.
  • The Reds have optioned right-hander Keyvius Sampson to Triple-A Louisville and activated righty Jon Moscot (intercostal) from the disabled list, according to C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). Moscot, who owns a 3.67 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 404 1/3 minor league innings, will start the Reds’ game against the Cardinals on Sunday. He got his first taste of the big leagues with the Reds last year, allowing six earned runs in three starts (11 1/3 innings) while totaling six strikeouts and five walks. MLBPipeline.com ranks Moscot as the Reds’ No. 24 prospect. Sampson, meanwhile, got off to a rough start this season for the Reds in surrendering four hits and four earned runs in three innings. In 13 appearances (12 starts) with the Reds last season, he tossed 52 1/3 frames of 6.54 ERA ball.

Piecoro On Greinke's Early Season Struggles

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In a data-driven piece, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic examines some of the reasons behind Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke’s early season difficulties. Greinke’s ERA through three starts (6.75) is more than five runs worse than the league-best 1.66 he put up as a Dodger last season, and ERA estimators like FIP (4.52) and xFIP (4.30) also aren’t particularly bullish on his performance. Part of the reason, as Piecoro details, is that Greinke is finding too much of the plate. Only 111 of Greinke’s 3,239 pitches were center-cut (roughly belt-high over the middle) last season, while he has already thrown 14 such pitches this year, Piecoro found from Pitch-f/x data at BrooksBaseball.Net. Further, 11 of Greinke’s pitches have gone over the center of the plate and up in the zone, and 10 more have traveled over the plate and just above the strike zone. Greinke has therefore put himself in position to get hit harder than usual, which is exactly what has happened. In fact, 6.5 percent of balls hit off Greinke this year have carried exit velocities of at least 95 mph compared to 5.3 percent in 2015, per Statcast. Greinke is fresh off his best start as a Diamondback (seven innings, two earned runs, five strikeouts, one walk in San Diego), but Padres hitters swung at just 39 percent of his change-ups, the lowest rate in his last 18 starts, according to Piecoro. As a result, both the D-backs and Greinke wondered if he or someone else was tipping his pitches, manager Chip Hale said after the game.

D-Backs Unlikely To Add Michael Bourn

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APRIL 15: The D-backs are passing on Bourn for the time being, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal does add “at least for the moment” to his report, indicating that the club could circle back down the line (presumably, if internal options struggle).

APRIL 14: The Diamondbacks have held “some discussions” with the representatives of free agent outfielder Michael Bourn, GM Dave Stewart tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Bourn was just released by the Braves, who will combine with the Indians to cover all of the veteran’s $14MM salary this year — less a pro-rated portion of the league minimum for whatever time he spends with another organization.

Arizona hasn’t yet decided whether it wants to add Bourn, Stewart said. The club is still sorting out its outfield situation after receiving the devastating news that standout center fielder A.J. Pollock will miss much or all of the coming season. As things stand, the D-Backs are relying on infielder Chris Owings and youngster Socrates Brito up the middle, with somewhat less-than-promising results thus far.

“We’ve talked about it internally and haven’t really made any decision which direction we’re going to go and what we’re going to do,” said Stewart. “We’re kind of on hold right now.”

The Diamondbacks will likely look to move quickly if they choose to pursue Bourn, said the GM, as there are other organizations in the mix. He explained: “If we’re going to have an opportunity to get the player – and, believe me, I don’t think we’re the only fish in the water – if we want to have a chance to get the player we’re going to have a make a decision pretty swiftly.”

Bourn was one of the game’s most productive center fielders from 2009-12, but age and injury have slowed him quite a bit in recent years. He had already been reduced to being a below-average performer at the plate in his first two years in Cleveland, but fell off even further to a .238/.310/.282 slash over 482 plate appearances in 2015. Bourn has also declined precipitously on the bases and with the glove — where he once excelled — and hasn’t done enough in those areas to make up for his failing bat in recent seasons.

All said, Bourn isn’t the most exciting choice and could hardly be expected to make up for the loss of Pollock, but there’s not much hope of doing better at this stage of the season. The 33-year-old holds the promise of at least providing a solid defensive presence to go with good baserunning, and could again be a useful player if he can turn things up at the plate.

D'Backs Outright Kyle Drabek To Triple-A

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  • The White Sox signed left-hander David Holmberg to a minor league contract, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports.  Holmberg was released by the Braves late in Spring Training. The signing represents a homecoming of sorts for Holmberg, who returns to the organization that selected him in the second round of the 2009 draft. Holmberg rated as one of the Sox’ most promising arms when he was traded to the D-backs alongside Daniel Hudson in exchange for Edwin Jackson back in 2011. Holmberg was flipped again in another fairly notable trade: the three-team Heath Bell deal in December 2013. Holmberg has tallied 62 innings in the Majors but logged an unsightly 6.24 ERA with more walks (35) than strikeouts (33). He’s posted strong numbers at the Double-A level in his career though and also has a 4.48 ERA in 213 Triple-A innings, making him a reasonable depth piece for the Sox.
  • The Diamondbacks outrighted Kyle Drabek to Triple-A after the righty went unclaimed, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports (via Twitter).  Drabek signed a minor league deal with the D’Backs during the offseason and pitched in one game for the club before being designated for assignment last Friday.  The 18th overall pick of the 2006 draft, Drabek has struggled at the big league level and also battled injuries, most notably two Tommy John surgeries.  Drabek has only thrown 12 2/3 innings over the last four seasons.
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