PAIN RELIEF FOR D-BACKS?
Bullpen contenders aim to help heal a sore spot.
When Jared Miller, his socks pulled up near his knees, uncorks his 6-foot-7 frame toward home plate, he lets loose low-to-mid-90s fastballs along with sliders he began throwing on advice from Red Sox ace David Price.
Miller, a left-handed relief prospect, has not allowed a run in three outings in spring training, a start that follows an 18 1/3-inning scoreless streak last year in the Arizona Fall League.
He qualifies as one of the more interesting contenders for a spot in the Diamondbacks’ bullpen, an area that appears just as unsettled as it was when camp began three weeks ago – and perhaps even more so.
With a little less than four weeks to go until Opening Day, the Diamondbacks have the luxury of taking
their time before making any decisions. They intend to do just that.
“That’s probably the toughest place to evaluate right now, as relievers are working into their velocity and things like that,” General Manager Mike Hazen said. “We have a lot of candidates and the competition in a lot of cases is still pretty wide open in terms of opportunity that’s to be had with guys obviously competing on and off the roster. And we have opportunities for anyone, really.”
Miller, along with right-hander Jimmie Sherfy and Rule 5 right-hander Tyler Jones, represent what might be the club’s next wave of reliever options. They all have arms that can generate mid-90s fastballs and have shown the ability to dominate in the minors.
Miller might be the most intriguing. He jumped from Low-A Kane County to Triple-A Reno over the course of last season, then finished with an eye-opening run in the fall league, where he struck out 30 and walked just four in 10 appearances.
“Next thing you know, I went to bed in Chicago and woke up in Triple-A,” Miller said. “It was pretty cool. And the fall league was icing on the cake.”
While working out two offseasons ago in Nashville, Miller said he got a chance to talk to Price about his cutter, and the fellow Vanderbilt product showed him his grip. The pitch has been his go-to ever since.
With 2 2/3 scoreless innings this spring, Miller hasn’t allowed a run in his past 21 innings.
“The biggest thing for me is getting ahead of guys,” Miller said. “It kind of opens up my arsenal. I don’t really throw a straight ball, so if I can get ahead it can kind of give a hitter fits.”
Sherfy, an undersized right-hander who missed time earlier in camp with a stomach issue, has thrown well in his two outings, including a scoreless inning on Sunday, when his fastball was sitting at 94 mph. Like Miller, he jumped multiple levels last season, starting in High-A Visalia and finishing in Reno, where he struggled at times over the final two months.
Hazen said Miller and Sherfy remain in the mix for jobs but said their levels of experience will be considerations.
“We’re still watching what they do here in camp, how it breaks based on performance and we’ll go from there,” Hazen said. “A player’s development path is still something that we need to keep in the back of our minds as we make these decisions, but it’s not going rule anything out.”
Jones was selected out of the Yankees organization following a season in which he dominated at Double-A, striking out 67 in 45 2/3 innings.
Entering spring training, the Diamondbacks seemed to have all but three spots available in the bullpen, with those belonging to closer Fernando Rodney and right-handers Jake Barrett and Randall Delgado seemingly secure. But Barrett, who figured to be the club’s primary setup man, has yet to throw off a mound due to shoulder problems, and his status for the April 2 season opener is in question.
“We can manage things without him if we have to for a little bit, but we don’t expect, as of right now, that he’s going to be delayed too long,” Hazen said. “We’re certainly not ruling anything out. We’re certainly going to exercise caution with how his progression comes along.”
At the same time, the Diamondbacks have a slew of veterans in camp on minor-league deals, a group that seems to grow by the week.
In the offseason, they signed righthanders J.J. Hoover and Keyvius Sampson. In the days leading up to camp, they added right-handers Tom Wilhelmsen and Kevin Jepsen and lefty Brian Matusz. A week into camp, they picked up lefty Jorge De La Rosa, and then added another lefty last week, T.J. McFarland.
The veterans have had varying degrees of success, with Hoover (three innings, no runs) and De La Rosa (two innings, no runs) posting the best results.
The club also has a crew of 40-man roster types who have thrown well, including Andrew Chafin, Enrique Burgos, Evan Marshall and Silvino Bracho.
While some of the veterans could help provide a bridge to the prospects, Hazen said the organization doesn’t have any strong expectations.
“You can’t really have an honest competition if you’ve already set your mind on exactly what you want to have happen,” he said. “I think there are some veteran guys that have a lot of experience and a track record that is certainly valuable to us, to our team, and from a consistency standpoint. But there’s been a lot of young guys that have shown really well also. We want to take the best club moving forward.”