HMS Walston prepares to set sail on a fishing expedition
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 Blake Walston (No. 48)
- Designated for Assignment: RHP Matt Bowman
Not much of a surprise, with Walston’s locker having apparently been set up at Chase Field yesterday. But it’s interesting the team chooses to do this, rather than pushing Brandon Pfaadt back two days. It will be the first career start for Walston, who was a first-round pick in the 2019 draft. He did appear in one game out of the bullpen on May 1st, working 3.2 innings and allowing two runs on three hits and four walks with five strikeouts. He has made seven starts and a relief appearance for Reno, with a 4.54 ERA over 35.2 innings, with a 35:20 K:BB ratio. I think keeping those free passes down and throwing strikes will be key, but I expect Torey Lovullo to have a quick hook if Walston starts to struggle.
It appears to be the end of the Bowman era in Arizona, to no great surprise. [I suppose I should delete him from the above chart, but whatever] Over his four outings, he had an 8.10 ERA. though his peripherals really weren’t that bad, with a 4.78 FIP. But he’s the kind of arm which is probably quite replaceable. We acquired him from Minnesota “for cash considerations”. I wonder if Arizona kept the receipt? It does free up a 40-man roster spot. We’ll see whether the team is going to use that imminently, or leave it open for when Merrill Kelly needs to come back off the 60-day injured list, though that would still be some way in the future.
Won’t be around for much of this one. Watching A Star is Born with Mrs. SnakePit. The Good Husband points thereby accumulated will be used tomorrow afternoon on a showing of Furiosa in IMAX. 🙂 But I’ll be back after the game for Snake_Bitten’s guest recap, hopefully of another series victory for the D-backs. We’ll probably need the offense – scorers of three runs across the first two games – to show up to a greater degree than they have.