The Arizona Diamondbacks made two additions this week and they are guys you may recognize.
The D-backs brought in former AL Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel on a minor league deal after he was released by the Chicago White Sox.
Keuchel was 2-5 with a 7.88 ERA with Chicago this season. What this addition does is reunite Keuchel with his former pitching coach, Brent Strom, who was in Houston when Keuchel won his Cy Young Award in 2015.
Maybe Strom can make some adjustments with Keuchel and the D-backs can catch lightning in a bottle with him.
The second addition Arizona made was to claim infielder Cole Tucker off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Tucker is an Arizona native out of Mountain Pointe High School and was selected by the Pirates in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft.
He’s a good defender who can play shortstop, second base, right field and center field.
The problem with Tucker has been his offense. He’s a career .211 hitter in four big league seasons with a total of five home runs and 35 RBIs. However, he hasn’t played a full season in the majors as of yet. He’s appeared in 154 combined games in his four years of service. If Tucker can start hitting, the D-backs may have found a diamond in the rough.
Steve Zinsmeister and Cody Fincher of the Ain’t No Fang Podcast discuss what these two additions mean for the D-backs, both in the short term and the long term.