#HugWatch2025 is in full effect.
Steve Gilbert was the first to break the news, during this evening’s game against the Pirates in Pittsburgh, tweeting “The @Dbacks have traded Randal Grichuk to the @Royals”. This was a little awkward, since Grichuk was actually in the line-up for the contest, though was quickly removed and replaced by Jorge Barrosa.
Jon Heyman followed up with the news that the return for Grichuk was reliever Andrew Hoffmann. Interestingly, just like Brandyn Garcia, added to the Arizona bullpen today after coming over in the Josh Naylor Trade, Hoffmann made his MLB debut recently, though has only a cup of coffee (three appearances) in the majors. He was tagged for six runs over 4.2 innings, though only two of those were earned. The 25-year-old righthander was originally a Braves’ draft pick, but was dealt to the Royals in 2022. This year, in Triple-A Omaha, he has thrown forty innings with a 2.25 ERA and a K:BB ratio of 55:10, which actually seems fairly impressive. Although the International League is not as hitter-friendly as the PCL.