Diamondbacks Sign Former Dodgers Reliever

The D-backs add some minor league depth.

May 14, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher J.P. Feyereisen (45) on the mound against the San Francisco Giants during the seventh inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

The Arizona Diamondbacks signed right-handed reliever J.P. Feyereisen to a minor league contract, according to an announcement from the Reno Aces on X/Twitter on Saturday.

Feyereisen was originally drafted in 2014 by Cleveland, but had a slow, arduous journey to the major leagues, and didn't make his big league debut until 2020 as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays.

But the righty suffered a pair of shoulder injuries in 2021 and 2022, the latter requiring surgery. That didn't stop him from pitching exceptionally well in the limited amount of time he had in 2022 however, as he tossed 24.1 scoreless innings for the Rays with an ERA of 0.00 and a FIP of 1.67 to back it up before he hit the Injured List.

The righty was then traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but didn't pitch in 2023 as he recovered from shoulder surgery.

Feyereisen made just 10 appearances for the Dodgers in 2024, pitching to a poor 8.18 ERA over 11 innings. He allowed five walks, 11 hits and 10 earned runs in that limited sample size.

Feyereisen throws a relatively chalk arsenal of four pitches. His four-seam fastball sits in the low-90s, with a changeup and slider serving as his put-away secondary weapons. He also throws a very rare sinker that profiles around the same speed as his four-seam.

The movement and velocity of all Feyereisen's pitches were down across the board in 2024 from his previous major league seasons.

Returning from significant shoulder surgery is difficult, so it's understandable that those results were poor in his first year back.

The Diamondbacks and their fans know that all too well, with relatively poor seasons coming from both Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez in 2024, as they both suffered shoulder injuries early in the year.

For now, Feyereisen doesn't look to be one of the main contributors to Arizona's major league bullpen, and he even has yet to appear in a big league Spring Training game. The D-backs are unlikely to call upon Feyereisen anytime in the near future, barring a devastating slate of injuries to their own major league relievers or significant damage to their young minor league depth.

But a club can never truly have too many available pitchers, and Feyereisen will join the Reno Aces on a minor league deal to bring depth to Arizona's Triple-A squad.

It does seem, at least for the moment, that Feyereisen is more likely to remain in Reno, or depart the Diamondbacks' organization entirely before he would be called upon to appear in a major league game, but then again, the Dodgers' star-studded pitching staff found a way to utilize the right-hander's services in 2024.

The D-backs have enough of a dilemma on their hands with regard to both the bullpen and starting rotation - both good problems to have. For Feyereisen, perhaps an opportunity in the minor leagues is just what he needs to get back to the majors.

Either way, the Diamondbacks will have no shortage of arms to fill out both their major and minor league rosters.