Kyle Lewis to Make Diamondbacks Roster

The D-backs position player opening day roster is mostly set.

NOTE: This article has been updated and corrected

The Diamondbacks announced six roster moves this morning, and with that the position player portion of the opening day roster appears set. 

Optioned to Triple-A Reno:

OF Pavin Smith, 3B Emmanuel Rivera

Reassigned to Minor League camp:

INF Phillip Evans, C P.J. Higgins, INF Jake Hager, RHP Peter Solomon

With these moves, barring any injuries or last minute changes, these are the 13 position players the Diamondbacks will open the season with:

Catchers- Gabriel Moreno, Jose Herrera (S) ??

Infielders- Christian Walker, Ketel Marte (S), Josh Rojas (LHB), Nick Ahmed, Evan Longoria, Geraldo Perdomo (S)

Outfielders-  Corbin Carroll (LHB), Alek Thomas (LHB), Jake McCarthy (LHB), Lourdes Gurriel Jr, Kyle Lewis

Lewis slugged his way onto the roster, batting 12 for 25, .480 with three doubles and three homers. Acquired in trade during the off season from the Mariners, Lewis was the 2020 American League Rookie of the Year. He since suffered knee and leg injuries, and will likely see the bulk of his at bats come while acting as the designated hitter. He has played a few games in the outfield of late, but the team would prefer to not have to use him in the field very often. 

In making the roster, Lewis forced Pavin Smith to Reno. While Smith is left handed and has the most experience playing first base to back up Christian Walker, the team believes they can cover backing up the durable Walker with Gurriel.  It's also possible that the team will use a flexible roster approach based on the schedule. For example if they see a segment of the schedule where they can project facing very few left handed starters, they could call Smith up for a couple of weeks to face the right handed starters. 

In the current configuration the DH spot in the lineup will be filled by a right handed bat most of the time. That will probably be Gurriel against right handed starters and Lewis against lefties. Gurriel has a fairly even career platoon split. (.791 OPS vs RHP, .812 vs LHP)   Ketel Marte and the left handed outfielders will get a few DH reps here and there when they need a day off their feet from fielding perhaps. 

At the catcher position, the injury to Carson Kelly pushes Gabriel Moreno to the starting catcher's role and possibly Jose Herrera back onto the roster as the backup catcher.  Moreno was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays for Daulton Varsho and had an excellent spring. The top rated catching prospect lost his rookie status last year due to days on roster but only has 72 MLB at bats under his belt.  

Herrera was on the roster for the first four months of 2022 but struggled at the plate, batting just .189 with two doubles and was demoted in August. He went 1-29 in spring training.  His defense and familiarity with the pitching staff could be  deemed more important to the club than going with a more offensive minded backup option.  Non Roster Invitee P.J. Higgins was considered a possibility for the backup role, as he is a better hitter. But defense won out in this decision. 

However per Nick Piecoro, the team may still make an external move to shore up the backup catching. 

This was a poor assumption by me, at least for now: GM Mike Hazen said they still have external “balls in the air” at backup catcher. We’ll have to wait a bit longer to see how that plays out.

— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) March 26, 2023

Emmanuel Rivera joined the Diamondbacks last year at the trade deadline, coming over from Kansas City in exchange for Luke Weaver. He started off hot a the plate, then cooled, while playing solid third base defense. However the team opted to sign the veteran Longoria to a one year contract to platoon with Josh Rojas. Given Longoria's injury history the last couple of years, it's very possible that Rivera could be called up to get platoon at bats at some point. 

In other roster news, MLB's Steve Gilbert announced on Twitter that Ryne Nelson will be the fifth starter and Drey Jameson will pitch out of the bullpen. 

Ryne Nelson will be the @Dbacks 5th starter. Drey Jameson will open the year in the bullpen.

— Steve Gilbert (@SteveGilbertMLB) March 26, 2023