The Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired outfielder Nick Heath from the Kansas City Royals for right-handed pitcher Eduardo Herrera. Arizona has also designated right-handed pitcher Jeremy Beasley for assignment, the team announced Saturday.
Heath collected two hits with three RBIs and batted .154 in 15 games for the Royals last season.
During 2021 Cactus League, the outfielder appeared in seven games for Kansas City and hit for a .333 batting average.
Arizona traded away Herrera, who signed with the Diamondbacks in 2016 as an international free agent. The 21-year old converted from a catcher and infielder to a pitcher in 2019.
The right-handed pitcher appeared in 22 relief appearances between the Arizona League and Class-A Hillsboro in 2019 and posted a 4.56 ERA while striking out 38 batters in 23.2 innings for Arizona.
With All-Star outfielder Ketel Marte still sidelined on the injured list, the newly acquired outfielder could provide some depth for the Diamondbacks.
“Those are the conversations that we’ve had internally, with Ketel going down. And you know, there’s definitely a strategy for bringing him (Heath) in here,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said on a Zoom call Saturday morning.
Lovullo also stated that he expects Heath to join the major league roster ‘in the very near future’.
“Our group, our front office does an unbelievable job of day by day and piece by piece trying to add players or make us better. And I think this is one of those situations,” Lovullo said on the 27-year-old Heath.
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