Another new pitcher…
Roster moves
The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves. The D-backs’ 40-man roster is at 39.
- Recalled from Triple-A Reno: LHP Brandyn Garcia (No. 55)
- Designated for Assignment: RHP Trevor Richards
Fare thee well, Mr. Richards. We hardly knew ye. Two appearances, covering 2.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits, with no walks and three strikeouts. We’ve certainly seen worse performances from the bullpen churn than a 3.38 ERA. Of course, it’s possible that he might end up clearing waivers, and can simply go back to Reno. I see that’s what happened to Sergio Alcantara, who consequently lives to fight again, after his “ghost” appearance on the Diamondbacks 26-man roster. He was DFA’d a whopping two days after signing as a free agent, but made it through waivers, and is now with the Aces. [2-for-9 with four walks, since you ask]
We welcome Mr. Garcia instead. When he takes the mound, he will become the 34th pitcher for Arizona this year. We’re not even at the two-thirds mark in the schedule, and there’s only one year where the team used more pitchers: that was 2021, where Arizona used a staggering forty-one arms. That included seven who recorded five outs or fewer, though admittedly most of those were position players. Anyone remember Bryan Holaday was a D-back, never mind pitched for us? It’s interesting to note that, before that 2021 season, no team had ever used more than forty in a year. Eight teams have now done so, all the way up to the Marlins last season, who reached 45 pitchers. We’ll see where the D-backs finish.
Garcia made his major-league debut less than a week ago for Seattle. He has appeared in two games, allowing a run over two innings on four hits, which is… weirdly similar to Richards’s numbers for Arizona. Garcia’s control hasn’t been so good, with three walks to one strikeout. That seems to have been a bit of an issue all told: including the minors, he has walked 20 over 35.1 innings, though there are also 43 strikeouts, which is nice. The raw stuff seems to be there, he just needs to learn how to harness it. Stop me if you’ve heard THAT one before… Hey, he’s only twenty-five, so at least there’s some potential of upside.