D-Backs mull roster options as Opening Day approaches
Closer still undecided; outfield now has hole
Right fielder Steven Souza Jr. has a strained pectoral muscle and will be out a while. How long? The Diamondbacks say they aren't sure. And who will replace him? That, too, is something the Diamondbacks say they are still trying to figure out.
Souza’s injury, which he suffered diving for a ball on Wednesday night at Salt River Fields, creates yet another question for the Diamondbacks at a time when the season opener is less than a week away.
The Diamondbacks have yet to announce an Opening Day starter. They have yet to name a closer. And now they have to figure out how they will handle right field, a position they thought they had solved when they acquired Souza from the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-team deal last month.
About all General Manager Mike Hazen would say for certain is that Souza’s replacement on the roster is likely to be a right-handed hitter. Beyond that, he didn’t rule out many scenarios, though he was hesitant to address individual players’ odds of making the team.
Could it be slugger Yasmany Tomas? Could Chris Owings and Jarrod Dyson share time? Could it be a waiver claim, trade acquisition or free agent?
“There are multiple maneuvers we could execute,” Hazen said. “We’re trying to sift through all those things right now. I think with so many guys on the roster having multi-positional flexibility, it allows us to consider a number of different options. And players are becoming available this time of year.”
When speaking to reporters on Thursday, Souza seemed to suggest he might not be ready to return to baseball activities for at least a couple of weeks. That would suggest he probably wouldn’t be back in games, at a minimum, for a few weeks. A few minutes earlier, manager Torey Lovullo had said he’d be surprised if Souza weren’t back by mid-May. That would seem to put the time frame somewhere in the three- to six-week range.
Hazen said the club should have more clarity on a timetable in the coming days.
“I still think there is still some definition over the course of days to see how he’s feeling, how he’s recovering initially and see where we go from there,” Hazen said. “I think that’s where we’re at.”
Hazen said the Diamondbacks would prefer to keep David Peralta in left field, if for no other reason than because he has played there all month, though he didn’t rule out shifting him to right. Hazen also said the club could go with a bat-first type, though he said “the defensive component is definitely going to factor into it, too.”
That would seem to work against Tomas, but the fact that he is again a consideration is an interesting development given that the front office made several moves last month – signing Dyson, trading for Souza – that seemed geared toward no longer having to rely on him.
“I think his offensive skills speak for themselves,” Hazen said. “We’re looking at everything. He’s made some improvements on defense. He’s going to have to continue to do that.”
The “defensive component” is the reason the club won’t consider Christian Walker – at least not in the near term. The team will take a look at Walker, a first baseman by trade, in the outfield at Triple-A Reno early in the season, Hazen said. Walker has played 95 games in the outfield in his minor league career.
“We need to be fair to the player,” he said. “Asking him to come up and do something at the major league level, I don’t think that puts him in a fair spot, initially.”
Walker put up huge numbers for Reno last season, then impressed at the major league level after a September call-up, swinging the bat so well he earned a spot on the postseason roster. And during spring training, in terms of the quality of his at-bats, he has ranked among the more impressive hitters in Diamondbacks camp.
“I don’t think anything that we’re talking about has to be 100 percent in stone,” Hazen said, “if it starts on March 29 and you’re at April 15 and it’s not working the way we need it to.” Decisions looming
Left-hander Jorge De La Rosa and right-hander Fernando Salas were both Article XX (B) minor league free agents, which means the Diamondbacks have decisions looming on them.
By 9 a.m. on Saturday, the club has to either, 1) add them to the major league roster; 2) release them; or 3) pay them a $100,000 retention bonus to keep them in the minor leagues.
There are indications De La Rosa is almost certain to be kept. If so, that would mean final two bullpen spots likely would come down to Salas, lefthander T.J. McFarland and right-hander Albert Suarez.
The Diamondbacks also have to decide on the third catcher on their roster, with both Chris Herrmann and John Ryan Murphy as out-of-options candidates. Sources say the club is strongly leaning toward Murphy and is listening to trade offers on Herrmann.
Murphy is regarded as the stronger defender, and the Diamondbacks prioritize catcher defense.
Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or nick.piecoro@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.