Diamondbacks Signing Host of Relievers to Minor League Deals

Low risk contracts that might produce a surprise performer

Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen stated at the beginning of the off season that the number one priority was to makeover a bullpen that has been among the worst in MLB over the last few years. 

He's signed Miguel Castro and Scott McGough to major league contracts.  Hazen talked about the reasons for signing Castro in this article and Michael McDermott took a deep dive exploring McGough who had been pitching in Japan. Hazen also traded for minor league prospect Carlos Vargas, who might be an option a little further into the season. 

Hazen has also continued to sign relievers to minor league contracts. Today we take a look at some of these pitchers, focusing on the signees that have prior major league experience. Some, but not all of these players will receive spring training invites. The team has yet to release an official list. Here is a partial list of some of these players with their career MLB stats

Jack Sommers

Because of small sample size issues when it comes to relievers it's important to cross reference FIP, (Fielding Independent Pitching) with ERA.  The FBV, or Fastball Velocity is the most recent average velocity posted. 

As minor league signings, these pitchers are by definition low risk, as they cost the team almost nothing to try to them out. 

Jeurys Familia

This signing was reported on twitter but has not yet been made official by the Diamondbacks. If he makes the MLB roster he will earn $1.5 million with further incentives up to $500K.   Familia was a premier closer for the Mets back in 2015-16, making the 2016 All Star team. But since 2019 he has a 4.96 ERA and 4.75 FIP in 190 innings. Last year was especially rough as his ERA climbed to 6.09 pitching for Philadelphia and Boston. He still throws 95MPH however so it's worth it to see if he can regain prior form.  Mike Hazen said the team will have a spring competition for the closer role. Maybe Familia  ends up a part of that. 

Zach McAllister

McAllister last pitched in the majors in 2018. He was quite successful for several years but a series of injuries, including shoulder surgery and a broken bone derailed his career. Trying to make it back to the majors, he pitched  68 relief innings for the Cardinals in AAA last year, posting a 3.99 ERA

Jandel Gustave

Gustave was also reported on twitter to have signed with the D-backs with an invite to spring training. The hardest thrower on this list with a 96 MPH fastball  he also throws a slider. 

Eric Yardley

Yardley last pitched in the majors in 2021 for the Brewers. He put up low ERA in limited innings for the Padres in 2019 and the Brewers in 2020. He is most known for his extremely low release point. Here he is throwing a called strike to Kyle Lewis

Recent minor league signed Eric Yardley has an extreme release point

Eric Yardley release point https://t.co/gnBNVC0AYo #MLBFilmRoom via @MLB

— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) January 31, 2023

Austin Adams

Adams was in the Padres organization the last three years but only threw two innings in the majors last year.  Adams has an eye popping 13.7 K/9 rate for his career to date. But his control issues are record settings. In 2021 he led the majors in hit batters with 24 HBP in just 52 innings.  Nobody in MLB history ever hit that many batter in fewer than 199 innings, let alone just 52.  Couple that with a career 6.2 BB/9 rate and the D-backs coaching staff have a project on their hands. 

Jesse Biddle

Biddle pitched in Japan last year posting a 4.02 ERA in 40 innings. He was by the Phillies in the 1st round in the 2010 draft. He made his debut with the Braves in 2018 as a 26 year old rooki and had a good season, posting a 3.11 ERA in 64 innings. From there injuries and inconsistency limited him to just 39 innings and a 8.24 ERA before heading to the far east to resurrect his career. 

NOTE: We profiled the next three pitchers in a little more detail back in December

Ryan Hendrix

Hendrix was a 5th round draft pick by the Reds in 2016. His slider has always been considered a very good pitch, and when he can locate his mid 90's fastball and get chase on his slider he can rack up the strikeouts. He has a 9.9K/9 in the majors and 12K/9 in the minors. Unfortunately location and control have eluded him throughout his career, leading to very high walk rates. Hendrix, who will be 28 years old next season, is a project pitching coach Brent Strom and the coaching staff.

This is exactly the type of arm with tantalizing power stuff the organization is trying to add. If they can find the magic combination to unlock his talent, the team could be rewarded with a late inning power reliever. It's getting late in the game for Hendrix perhaps, so he'll need to show something early in camp. 

Sam Clay

Clay was drafted by the Twins out of Georgia Tech in the 4th round in 2014. He's a prototypical sinker/slider lefty that gets a ton of ground balls, over 60% in fact. He uses a changeup against right handers, but throughout his career has had a big platoon split. Clay may have had more success in the days when a lefty could come in and face just one batter. But the three batter minimum makes him a less attractive option unless he can figure out how to be more effective against right hand batters. Whether that comes via an improved changeup, or adding a new pitch remains to be seen. 

Austin Brice

Brice was drafted out of high school by the Florida Marlins all the way back in 2010. He made his MLB debut in 2016, and the Diamondbacks are now his 5th organization, having previously been with Cincinnati, Boston, and most recently Pittsburgh. He had success in 2019 during his second stint with the Marlins when he pitched in 36 games and posted a 3.43 ERA IN 44 innings. That was followed by two very rough seasons with the Red Sox however.

Brice, who will be 31 next season, saw an uptick in velocity on his four seam and sinker during his brief opportunities with the Pirates last year, averaging just shy of 94 MPH on each. But his main pitch is his curveball, which he's thrown over 40% of the time in his career. During 2019 that pitch had a spin rate of 2900. After dipping below 2700 in 2020-21, the spin rate appeared to rebound to 2750 last year. Perhaps it's this uptick in velocity and stuff that caught the D-backs eye.