The Diamondbacks announced they’ve designated reliever Grant Holman for assignment. They also placed righty Cristian Mena (shoulder strain) and left-hander Blake Walston (rehabbing Tommy John surgery) on the 60-day injured list. They needed to clear three 40-man roster spots for Joe Ross, Jonathan Loáisiga and Ildemaro Vargas — all of whom have officially been selected onto the MLB roster.
They placed four more players on the injured list, as expected. Adrian Del Castillo (left calf strain), Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (recovering from ACL tear), and Tyler Locklear (rehabbing elbow/shoulder surgeries) all hit the 10-day IL. Merrill Kelly lands on the 15-day injured list with intercostal nerve irritation. Those placements are retroactive to March 22.
Arizona claimed Holman off waivers from the Athletics early in Spring Training. The 25-year-old righty has pitched parts of two seasons with the A’s, allowing a 4.66 ERA across 38 2/3 innings. He has fanned a below-average 18.8% of opponents against a lofty 10.2% walk rate. Holman made just one appearance this spring before being optioned, working around a walk to toss a scoreless inning.
The Diamondbacks will likely try to run him through waivers this week. Holman has just over one year of MLB service and still has a couple minor league options remaining. He works in the 94-95 mph range with his fastball while using a splitter and slider as his offspeed pitches.