The D-Backs outrighted four players off the 40-man roster, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Right-handers John Curtiss and Casey Kelly, lefty Kyle Nelson, and infielder Connor Kaiser all went unclaimed on waivers. They can all elect free agency and will presumably do so within the next day or two.
Nelson is the only member of that group who spent more than one season with Arizona. The Snakes claimed the 29-year-old reliever off waivers from Cleveland over the 2021-22 offseason. Nelson pitched to a 2.19 ERA across 43 appearances during his first season in the desert. His numbers tailed off in 2023 and he hasn’t been much of a factor over the past two seasons. Nelson missed most of the ’24 campaign due to thoracic outlet syndrome. He only made three big league appearances while allowing more than a run per inning over 42 Triple-A games this year.
Curtiss signed a minor league contract with the Snakes over the offseason. They called him up in late June. He tossed 36 2/3 innings across 30 MLB appearances. Curtiss managed a respectable 3.93 ERA but only punched out 17% of batters faced. The 32-year-old righty carries a 4.03 ERA across 145 1/3 innings over parts of eight seasons. This amounts to an early non-tender instead of a projected $1.2MM arbitration salary.
Kelly and Kaiser got cups of coffee as late-season stopgaps. The 36-year-old Kelly pitched in a pair of games in August, pitching around a hit and a walk to work 1 2/3 scoreless innings. He spent most of the year working out of the rotation at Triple-A Reno, pitching to a 5.63 ERA with a well below-average 11.5% strikeout rate over 115 innings. Kaiser, who turns 29 in a few weeks, played in 11 games after his contract was selected in August. He picked up his first two big league knocks. The Vanderbilt product is a glove-only middle infielder who hit .236/.345/.406 with a 27.5% strikeout rate in Triple-A.
The cuts get Arizona’s 40-man roster to compliance for tomorrow’s deadline. Teams need to reinstate all players from the 60-day injured list by Thursday. The D-Backs had been at 44 players including those who’ll come off the injured list.