Roster moves
The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves. The D-backs’ 40-man roster is at 40.
- Recalled from Triple-A Reno: LHP Philip Abner (will wear No. 50 in his Major League debut)
- Optioned to Triple-Reno after yesterday’s game: LHP Kyle Backhus
The above move was announced yesterday, completing a fairly meteoric rise for Abner, who was pitching in High-A ball as recently as May 13. He spent most of the year in Double-A, and was promoted from there up to Reno at the end of August. He has only thrown 8.1 innings above AA, though they were very impressive: no runs allowed, on just two hits, with three walks (one intentional) and eleven strikeouts.
If you want more info, Michael has you covered, with a deep dive into the prospect and what to expect. Summary? “Abner probably isn’t going to be a back-of-the-bullpen arm like Brandyn Garcia, but he has the stuff to become a useful reliever. He’s the type of arm you match up against a cluster of left-handed hitters in the middle innings.”
The D-backs will also be going with a 10-man bullpen the rest of the way, with the news that Nabil Crismatt is going to the bullpen and the team will be using a four-man rotation for the final nine games. There is an off day on Monday, which will mitigate the impact, but it will mean that Saturday’s and Sunday’s starters will potentially be going on short rest. I say “potentially,” because if the D-backs are no longer in contention by that point, I imagine there will be no need to push the envelope with our starters. But if the team is still in the hunt, this would be the time to go all out. We’ll figure out what happens in the post-season once we get there.
Stranger Things night at Chase Field tonight. Is that still popular? I wouldn’t know, since we canceled our Netflix account after the last price hike, back in January. I remember the first couple of seasons were huge in popular culture: hard to believe it has now been nine years since the show started – though less than four have passed in Hawkins, Indiana. Having three years between series wouldn’t exactly seem like the best way to sustain momentum. But, hey, they got Kate Bush back in the public eye, and since she made the first LP I ever bought, I can’t complain. Kids! Ask your parents about LPs! They were just like streaming, except on foot-wide circles of wax…
