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Diamondbacks Select Tommy Henry

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The Diamondbacks announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Tommy Henry. He is the starter for today’s game, making his major league debut. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, fellow lefty Tyler Gilbert was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Righty Taylor Widener was optioned to make room on the active roster.

Henry, 25, was selected by the Diamondbacks with the 74th overall pick in the 2019 draft. He tossed three innings in Low-A that year but then missed all of 2020 due to the pandemic. Last year, he made 23 starts in Double-A, putting up a 5.21 ERA with a 27.4% strikeout rate, 10.8% walk rate and 39.7% ground ball rate. Here in 2022, he’s been bumped up to Triple-A and made 20 starts so far, sitting on a 3.83 ERA with a 21.9% strikeout rate, 9.6% walk rate and 44.6% grounder rate.

Henry has appeared on Baseball America’s list of top Arizona farmhands since 2020, getting bumped up to #9 at the midseason update this year. Their report notes that he doesn’t have overpowering stuff, with his fastball sitting around 91 mph, but his best offering is his changeup.

As for Gilbert, he was placed on the injured list July 29 due to an elbow sprain. He won’t be eligible to return until 60 days from that initial IL placement, which would be late September at the earliest. He has a 5.24 ERA this season through 34 1/3 innings.

Multiple Teams Closing Spring Complexes To Opposing Scouts

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Some MLB teams are closing their spring complexes to scouts from other teams until either Major League spring play commences or until after the Rule 5 draft, per ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel (via Twitter).

McDaniel also suggests the Rule 5 draft could be cancelled outright, at which point teams would likely be more lenient. Canceling the Rule 5 draft would be unfortunate, as it offers at least an opportunity to blocked minor league players to get opportunities for promotion elsewhere. While it may pale in comparison to the other issues currently on the table, canceling the Rule 5 draft would close off at least one avenue that struggling teams have utilized to find and audition controllable players.

The implications here are fairly clear. Currently the only players allowed in camp are those that are not on the 40-man roster. Those are also the players who will be available for plucking during the Rule 5 draft. By locking opposing scouts out of camp, teams are strategically denying valuable information to clubs about the progress of certain players. Without current scouting, teams picking in the Rule 5 draft will have to rely on old information, which is difficult when specifically looking for players who might have jumped a rung in terms of their development.

Last year’s Rule 5 draft proved a (relatively) fertile area of player acquisition for Major League clubs. Akil Baddoo (Tigers), Garrett Whitlock (Red Sox), Jordan Sheffield (Rockies), Trevor Stephan (Guardians), and Zach Pop (Marlins) being among the players who stuck with new clubs after being taken in the draft. Tyler Gilbert (Diamondbacks) put up 1.1 rWAR for Arizona after being selected in the Triple-A phase of the draft. He improbably tosses a No-Hitter in his first start for the Diamondbacks, finishing the year with a 3.15 ERA/4.27 FIP over 40 innings in the Majors. These players provided some of the more memorable success stories from the 2021 campaign.

Whitlock, for example, was one of the most important players on a playoff team. Working out of the bullpen, Whitlock became the Red Sox most reliable reliever down the stretch. He finished the year with a 1.96 ERA/2.84 FIP across 46 outings totaling 73 1/3 innings, good for 3.0 rWAR. Finding a ready contributor like Whitlock in another team’s complex will be much more difficult if scouts don’t have access to those playing fields.

Diamondbacks Activate Merrill Kelly

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The Diamondbacks have reinstated Merrill Kelly from the COVID-19 injured list. He’ll get the start this evening against the Dodgers, his first action in a month after he tested positive for the coronavirus. Tyler Gilbert was placed on the 10-day injured list with elbow fatigue in a corresponding move.

Kelly has been one of the D-Backs’ most reliable starters this year. While his promising 2020 campaign was cut short by thoracic outlet syndrome, the 32-year-old has bounced back and remained durable until his positive COVID diagnosis. Kelly has tossed 142 1/3 frames over 24 starts, working to a 4.30 ERA. He’s not missed many bats, but Kelly’s a great strike-thrower and has induced grounders at a roughly league average rate en route to solid production.

The final few weeks will offer Kelly an opportunity to make a handful of starts and hopefully demonstrate he’s returned to prior form after a month away. His contract contains an eminently affordable $5.25MM club option, which looks like a lock to be exercised. At that point, Kelly would become one of the offseason’s more notable trade candidates, with the Diamondbacks unlikely to compete next season. Plenty of more immediate contenders could use the affordable, mid-rotation stability Kelly brings and seem likely to be in contact with the Arizona front office over the winter.

To open space on the 40-man roster, the D-Backs recalled minor league reliever Kevin Ginkel and placed him on the major league 60-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation. The move officially ends his season, but Ginkel will pick up MLB service time and pay for the final few weeks. The 27-year-old has been up-and-down over the past three years, combining for a 4.72 ERA over 68 2/3 big league frames.

Diamondbacks Select Tyler Gilbert

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The Diamondbacks announced they’ve selected the contract of pitcher Tyler Gilbert. Southpaw Miguel Aguilar was optioned to Triple-A Reno in a corresponding move.

It’s the first big league call for Gilbert, a 27-year-old southpaw. A sixth-round pick of the Phillies out of USC in 2015, Gilbert spent his first few professional seasons in the Philadelphia organization. The Phils traded him to the Dodgers for Kyle Garlick in February 2020, but he never appeared in a game for a Los Angeles affiliate due to last year’s canceled minor league season. The D-Backs selected Gilbert in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft over the offseason.

He’s spent the year to date with Reno, making eleven appearances (ten starts). Over 52 1/3 innings, Gilbert has a 3.44 ERA with decent strikeout and walk rates (22.8% and 8.7%, respectively). That’s deceptively strong production in the supercharged Triple-A West environment. Among the 26 pitchers with 50+ innings in the league, only one (Drew Anderson) has a better ERA than Gilbert. That quality work in the high minors will earn him a look from a D-Backs team that has little reason not to give opportunities to potential long-term members of the pitching staff.

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