D-Backs’ Rule 5 loss pitching well for Royals

PITTSBURGH – Baseball people always say there’s no commodity more valuable than young starting pitching, and the Diamondbacks appear to have let a starter get away for nothing in the offseason.

The Kansas City Royals plucked right-hander Brad Keller away from the Diamondbacks in the Rule 5 draft, and after spending the first two months of the season in the bullpen, Keller has begun to transition into the Royals’ starting rotation.

He posted a 2.01 ERA in 221⁄ innings in the bullpen

3 and has logged a 3.38 ERA in 182⁄ innings since shift

3 ing to the rotation.

Asked about the decision not to protect him on the 40-man roster, Diamondbacks General Manager Mike Hazen said the organization liked Keller but wasn’t certain he was advanced enough to pitch at the major-league level in 2018.

“Those spots are really valuable as we’re trying to manage a bullpen and we’re trying to manage everybody coming up here,” Hazen said. “If a lot of your 40-man is aggregated in Double-A, it makes it really hard.”

Pitching most of last season at age 21, Keller posted a 4.68 ERA in 1302⁄ innings at Double-A Jackson.

3 But the organization’s player development staff believed Keller turned a corner late in the year in terms of harnessing his repertoire, which included a lively fastball in the 93-94 mph range along with a slider and change-up.

The Royals, a rebuilding team, rolled the dice on Keller, giving him a chance at the big-league level that Hazen didn’t think the Diamondbacks would have been willing to provide given their status as contenders.

“I think there’s going to be situations where guys get opportunities that we didn’t have. Maybe it was a mistake on our part not to add him. You never want to give up talent. But those were the factors that went into the decision.”

At the time rosters had to be set in November, the Diamondbacks left their roster at 38, leaving space to try to snag players off waivers throughout the offseason. The roster included several players who eventually would be removed, including outfielders Rey Fuentes and Jeremy Hazelbaker and catcher Chris Herrmann. Their own Rule 5 selection, right-hander Albert Suarez, occupied a 40-man spot until the end of March.

“We liked him; it wasn’t that we didn’t like him,” Hazen said of Keller.

The Diamondbacks also lost outfielder Victor Reyes to the Detroit Tigers in the Rule 5 draft. Reyes is still on the Tigers’ roster but is getting limited playing time, hitting just .220 with a .525 OPS (on-base-pluss-lugging) in 59 at-bats.

Short hops

❚ Manager Torey Lovullo said he wanted to match up left-hander Patrick Corbin with a different catcher on Friday, which was why he had Jeff Mathis in the lineup instead of John Ryan Murphy. “I just felt like I wanted to give Patrick a different look,” Lovullo said. Murphy was behind the plate for each of Corbin’s past four starts, in which he posted a 6.46 ERA.

❚ Left-hander Robbie Ray’s next minor-league rehab start on Monday will come with Triple-A Reno, Lovullo said. Right-hander Randall Delgado, who gave up a run in 12⁄ innings on Thursday night for Re

3 no, will pitch again on Sunday.