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Jorge Barrosa

D-Backs Notes: McCarthy, Barrosa, Puk, Alexander

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The Diamondbacks are optioning Jake McCarthy to Triple-A Reno, per the MLB.com transactions log. John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM in Phoenix suggests that Jorge Barrosa is likely to be recalled tomorrow to replace McCarthy in the outfield.

McCarthy has had a terrible start to the season. He has managed just three hits in his first 41 at-bats. The 27-year-old is coming off arguably the best year of his career. McCarthy hit .285/.349/.400 with eight homers and 25 stolen bases through a career-high 495 plate appearances last season. He earned the Opening Day assignment in center field as a result. His slump quickly cut into his playing time, as Alek Thomas has gotten the nod in center for five of the past six contests.

A good contact hitter, McCarthy has continued to put the ball in play. He has only fanned in six of 47 plate appearances, but he’s simply doing no damage. He only has one extra-base knock, a double, with five hard-hit balls (ones with an exit velocity of 95 MPH or better) on the season. McCarthy has never had imposing batted ball metrics, but the results became too much to ignore. He will be able to play every day in Reno rather than work in a fourth outfield role as he tries to get on track.

That’ll seemingly afford an MLB opportunity for the switch-hitting Barrosa. He made a brief major league debut last season, collecting three hits in eight games. He hit .270/.360/.421 over 75 Triple-A games last season. The Venezuela native is out to a stronger start in 2025, batting .295/.362/.495 with a trio of homers over 105 plate appearances in the Pacific Coast League.

Elsewhere on the roster, reliever A.J. Puk is scheduled for an MRI today (link via ESPN’s Jesse Rogers). The southpaw landed on the 15-day injured list on Saturday with inflammation in his throwing elbow. The Snakes will presumably provide a return timeline after getting the imaging results. Puk has been brilliant since the D-Backs acquired him from Miami at last summer’s deadline. He owns a 1.78 ERA with 55 strikeouts through 35 1/3 frames in an Arizona uniform.

On the other side of the injury ledger, Arizona activated Blaze Alexander from the 10-day IL and optioned him to Reno on Sunday. The 25-year-old infielder suffered an oblique strain early in his camp and only appeared in two Spring Training games. He played eight games on a rehab assignment. Rookie Tim Tawa and speedster Garrett Hampson are splitting the second base playing time with Ketel Marte on the injured list. Alexander would probably have gotten those reps had he been fully healthy throughout camp, but he’ll remain in Triple-A for the time being.

Diamondbacks Reinstate Ketel Marte From Injured List

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The Diamondbacks that second baseman Ketel Marte has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. Outfielder Jorge Barrosa has been optioned to Triple-A Reno as the corresponding move.

Marte was having an elite season prior to landing on the IL with a sprained left ankle. In 116 games this year, he has hit 30 home runs and drawn walks at a 10.4% clip. His .298/.370/.560 batting line translates to a wRC+ of 150, indicating he’s been 50% better than the league average hitter. He has also stolen six bases and been given strong grades for his second base defense, leading to a tally of 5.3 wins above replacement in 116 games, per FanGraphs.

The ankle injury put that on pause, but not for long. He landed on the IL August 19, so he’s now back after just a little more than a minimum IL stint. That’s a tremendous development for the Snakes, though it could lead to some challenging lineup decisions for manager Torey Lovullo.

It’s possible that Marte will need some time as the designated hitter before retaking his second base job on an everyday basis. If that’s the case, the DH slot could get a little crowded. Joc Pederson has been the regular in that spot, at least against righties, as he’s usually shielded from lefties. The club acquired first baseman Josh Bell while Christian Walker was on the IL but Walker is now back as well.

The Diamondbacks haven’t shown any inclination to put Pederson in the field this year, so he seems to be DH only. Bell nor Walker aren’t realistic options anywhere other than first base, so one of them needs to be the DH if both are in the lineup.

Perhaps that will simply allow the skipper to rotate some down time to those veteran players as the club pushes towards the stretch run, but the games they are playing are plenty meaningful. The Diamondbacks are 79-62, putting them in the second Wild Card position. They are only half a game behind the Padres, who have the top spot, though Atlanta and the Mets are just 2.5 games back of the Snakes. Luis Guillorme and Kevin Newman have been platooning at the keystone lately but figure to lose out on playing time whenever Marte takes over that position.

Diamondbacks Activate Randal Grichuk

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April 5: The Diamondbacks have made it official, announcing that they have reinstated Grichuk and optioned Barrosa.

April 4: Randal Grichuk appears to be on the verge of his Diamondbacks debut, as John Gambadoro of 98.7FM Phoenix (X link) reports that the outfielder is expected to be activated from the 10-day injured list prior to Friday’s game with the Braves.  Outfielder Jorge Barrosa was already optioned to Triple-A today to create room on the active roster.

Due to a January surgery that removed bone spurs from Grichuk’s ankle, he missed some of his usual offseason prep work, and thus was additional ramp-up time was likely to be required at the start of the season.  A firmer timeline was put in place as Grichuk landed with the D’Backs on a one-year contract worth $2MM in guaranteed money (with a mutual option for 2025), and Arizona indeed put him on the 10-day IL so Grichuk could get some more outfield work in via a rehab assignment at Triple-A Reno.  His IL placement was retroactive to March 25, so Grichuk’s stint lasted beyond the minimum 10 days only due to the fact that the D’Backs didn’t have a game today.

The 32-year-old veteran is expected to primarily face left-handed pitching this year, serving as a right-handed hitting counterpoint to the lefty-swinging group of DH Joc Pederson, utilityman Jace Peterson, and outfielders Jake McCarthy and Alek Thomas.  Corbin Carroll will naturally play every day in the outfield, and Thomas was himself sent to the 10-day IL earlier this week due to a hamstring strain.  Since it appears as though Thomas’ injury is moderately serious, it could open up more playing time for Grichuk right away.

Grichuk delivered a league-average 100 wRC+ over 471 plate appearances with the Rockies and Angels in 2023, hitting .267/.321/.459 with 16 home runs.  Grichuk’s splits have become increasingly slanted in recent years, and last season saw him hit .244/.294/.401 over 337 PA against righties and a far superior .328/.388/.607 slash line in 134 PA against southpaws.  A platoon role seems like the best use of Grichuk at this point in his career, and he’ll now get a chance to contribute for a Diamondbacks team that is clearly in win-now mode.

Diamondbacks Place Alek Thomas On Injured List With Strained Hamstring

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The Diamondbacks announced that outfielder Alek Thomas has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a strained left hamstring. Outfielder Jorge Barrosa was recalled in a corresponding move and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Thomas, who turns 24 later this month, left last night’s game with some hamstring tightness and it seems the injury is serious enough that he’ll have to miss some time. Per Alex Weiner of AZ Sports, manager Torey Lovullo described it as “high Grade 1” since it’s between Grade 1 and Grade 2.

The young outfielder isn’t much of a hitter, having slashed .230/.273/.362 in his career thus far, but he is a strong defender in center. In 1,857 1/3 innings of big league work thus far, he has produced 11 Defensive Runs Saved and 11 Outs Above Average. Corbin Carroll has slid over from right field to center tonight and may stay there for as long as Thomas is out, with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Jake McCarthy likely to get regular work in the corners.

The injury to Thomas has allowed the 23-year-old Barrosa to get called up to the big leagues for the first time in his career and he’ll jump into the mix for outfield playing time. An international signing out of Venezuela, the switch hitter split his 2022 between High-A and Double-A. He hit 13 home runs in 123 games while walking in 12.1% of his trips to the plate and striking out at just a 15.4% clip. His combined batting line of .278/.372/.439 translated to a wRC+ of 112 and he stole 26 bases on the year.

The Snakes added him to their roster in November of that year to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He spent all of 2023 in Triple-A, pairing a 15.9% walk rate with a 16.3% strikeout rate. He added another 13 home runs and swiped another 15 bags. His .274/.394/.456 line led to a wRC+ of 110. Baseball America ranked him the club’s #23 prospect coming into this year while FanGraphs had him at #10 as of June of last year.

Diamondbacks Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Diamondbacks announced several roster moves in advance of tonight’s Rule 5 protection deadline. One of them was the previously reported acquisition of reliever Carlos Vargas from the Guardians. They also added infielder Blaze Alexander, outfielders Jorge Barrosa and Dominic Fletcher, as well as righty Justin Martinez to the 40-man roster. In corresponding moves, they designated four players for assignment: infielder Sergio Alcántara, left-hander Caleb Smith and outfielders Stone Garrett and Jordan Luplow.

Alcántara had two separate stints on the Arizona roster this past season, with a brief stay in San Diego intervening. He bounced around the waiver wire on the strength of his glove at shortstop. He didn’t provide much offensively, however, putting up a .220/.261/.356 line in 224 trips to the plate. That’s fairly similar to the .205/.303/.327 showing he had in 2021 as a member of the Cubs.

Garrett and Luplow each played similar roles in the desert, serving as right-handed complements to a primarily left-handed outfield. Garrett had more success, posting a .276/.309/.539 showing with four home runs and eight doubles in his first 27 MLB games. That came with a 3:27 walk-to-strikeout ratio, and Arizona’s front office clearly wasn’t bullish on his chances of replicating that kind of success. Garrett joined the organization on a minor league deal but had a decent season at Triple-A Reno and could find some interest on the waiver wire.

The Snakes acquired Luplow in a trade with the Rays last offseason. They’d hoped he could replicate his career track record of success against left-handed pitching, but the veteran outfielder didn’t meet those expectations. Through 234 plate appearances, he posted a .176/.274/.361 line, although he did connect on 11 round-trippers. That wasn’t enough to convince Arizona to keep him around on a projected $2MM arbitration salary, making today’s DFA something of an early non-tender.

That’s also true of Smith, who’d been projected for a $2.7MM salary for his final year of club control. The 31-year-old southpaw pitched 44 times and soaked up 70 innings out of the bullpen this year, posting a 4.11 ERA. He was diagnosed with a ligament tear in his throwing elbow after the season but is electing to rehab without surgery. A former starter with the Yankees and Marlins, Smith had spent the past two and a half years in Arizona.

Taking their places on the roster are Vargas, Alexander, Barrosa, Fletcher and Martinez. Alexander may be the most notable of the group. An 11th-round selection out of a Florida academy in 2018, he had an excellent season for Double-A Amarillo. In 363 plate appearances, the right-handed hitting infielder posted a .306/.388/.539 line with 17 home runs, earning a late-season bump to Reno. He’s played all throughout the infield and has an excellent arm. Baseball America considers him the #15 prospect in the Arizona system.

Fletcher went 75th overall out of the University of Arkansas in the 2019 draft. A lefty-hitting outfielder, he split the year between the D-Backs’ top two affiliates. Fletcher, the younger brother of Angels infielder David Fletcher, combined for a .312/.378/.486 showing with 35 doubles over 591 plate appearances. He can cover all three outfield spots and is the #14 prospect in the system according to BA.

Barrosa checks in 22nd on that list. He’s a switch-hitter who only struck out in 15.7% of his plate appearances with Amarillo this year. The 21-year-old from Venezuela stole 22 bases and hit .276/.374/.438 while playing primarily center field for the Sod Poodles. Martinez, a native of the Dominican Republic, returned from injury to work as a reliever this year. He traversed three minor league levels, topping out at Triple-A.

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