The former 23rd round pick will get his first taste of the big leagues
To no one’s surprise, the Arizona Diamondbacks have placed reliever Joakim Soria on the injured list with a strained calf in his left leg. Soria suffered the injury covering first base on a ground ball against the San Diego Padres on Sunday. After suffering the injury, Soria proceeded to miss badly with his last few pitches before being taken out by the training staff. To fill his roster spot, the Diamondbacks have recalled RHP Matt Peacock from the alternate training site.
Here’s Torey Lovullo’s reasoning for the move
The first question you’re probably wondering is who the heck is Matt Peacock? Peacock is a 23rd round pick from the 2017 MLB Draft out of Alabama State University who slowly and steadily climbed up the ladder. He received a camp invite before the 2020 season and spent the season at the team’s alternate training site at Salt River Fields. The team added him to the 40-man roster this offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. He was likely going to start the minor league season with the team’s AAA affiliate in Reno while waiting for a call-up opportunity.
Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked Peacock as the 32nd best prospect in the D-backs system with this summary of the 26-year-old pitcher:
This is the summary of a pitcher who has intriguing tools, but hasn’t quite put it together yet. The spin rate on that slider would have put him in the top 10 in baseball, but the lack of efficiency takes a lot of movement and tilt off the pitch. The altered release on the change-up is a problem because that’s a tell for MLB hitters. His possible outcome as a pitcher is kind of murky, as he’s maybe only a few adjustments away from being a bottom of the rotation starter or he’s simply another young bullpen arm to eat up innings.
He’ll likely spend most of his MLB action in 2021 out of the bullpen, although he is another potential starting pitcher option down the road if the team needs to go to him in that department.
Here’s Peacock reacting to the news of his call-up:
Good luck in your Major League career Matt, let’s hope it’s a long and fruitful one.
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