Diamondbacks Add Depth to Bullpen

The Diamondbacks made a pair of official and potential moves to add to their relief corp.

May 12, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Thyago Vieira (49) delivers a pitch in the eighth inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports / Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports

According to the team, the Arizona Diamondbacks have claimed right-handed reliever Thyago Vieira off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles.

Vieira, 31, is a journeyman reliever, who spent time with the Mariners, White Sox, Brewers and Orioles. Now, the right-hander will land on Arizona's 40-man roster.

He sports a career 6.71 ERA, and has only made 42 appearances in the majors, despite spending a portion of five seasons in MLB. Thus far in 2024, he's pitched a career-high 22 1/3 innings, with a 6.85 ERA and 1.93 WHIP.

He does have a solid 25 strikeouts over those 22 1/3 innings, although he's allowed an unsightly 17 walks and 26 hits in that period as well.

He's fared much better recently in the minors, however. In his 2023 Triple-A campaign, he appeared in 33 games, pitching to a 3.35 ERA over 37 2/3 innings. He struck out an incredible 51 batters over that time, and only walked 15.

Vieira features a smaller arsenal, with a 97-98 MPH fastball/sinker combo, paired with a hard 88 MPH slider. He certainly has the stuff to strike out hitters, but has struggled to maintain control in the major leagues thus far.

For now, he'll most likely serve as a depth piece for the D-backs, who have not announced a corresponding move as of yet.

But Vieira might not be the only reliever the D-backs are adding to their roster today. According to KPRC2 Houston's Ari Alexander, the D-backs are calling up right-hander Joe Jacques from the Triple-A Reno Aces.

Source: The #DBacks are recalling LHP Joe Jacques.

Jacques joined the team as a waiver claim from the #RedSox.

He has 24 career Major League appearances with Boston. pic.twitter.com/JqRVU4NUx7

— Ari Alexander (@AriA1exander) June 6, 2024

Jacques, 29, has only made 24 career appearances, all with the Red Sox. He has a 5.08 ERA over that period, but has only made one appearance in the majors in 2024. The D-backs claimed Jacques off waivers from Boston on April 23rd, but placed him on the IL on May 12th.

He completed a rehab assignment in the ACL before rejoining the Aces just over a week ago.

He hasn't fared particularly well at any level of the minors this season, pitching just 6 1/3 innings in Reno and allowing seven runs over that period. He features a low-90s sinker, with a sweeper, slider and changeup to go with it.

With the D-backs bullpen being used to great extent in the recent stretch, and no sign of young starters like Blake Walston and Slade Cecconi being able to continuously go deep into games, Arizona is likely just looking for fresh arms who can pitch some bulk relief if needed.

As of now, the team has not made the Jacques move official, and no corresponding move has been announced for either arm at this time. The 40-man roster is currently at 39.

As this is a developing story, Inside the Diamondbacks will continue to monitor official roster moves and update this story as any new information is released by the team.