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Chafin will wear No. 40 in his Major League debut and Paul will wear No. 14. Chafin, 24, combined to go 8-6 with a 3.96 ERA (58 ER in 131.2 IP) and 102 strikeouts in 23 starts between Double-A Mobile and Reno this season. He entered the year rated as the club's No. 6 Prospect by MLB.com and garnered Southern League midseason All-Star accolades for the second consecutive year, after posting a 1.96 ERA (12 ER in 55.50 IP) in 9 starts for the BayBears. In 2012, Chafin led the California League with 150 strikeouts and was named a midseason All-Star.
Over 4 Minor League seasons, he has gone 27-20 with a 3.95 ERA (181 ER in 412.1 IP), 2 complete games and 373 strikeouts in 81 games (73 starts). Chafin was drafted by the D-backs as a supplemental first-round selection (43rd overall) in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft from Kent State University.
Paul, 29, who signed as a Minor League free agent on Aug. 7, played in 1 game for the Aces and 80 games with Triple-A Norfolk (Orioles) and hit .251 (75-for-299) with 12 home runs and 57 RBI. In 5 Major League seasons with Los Angeles (2009-11), Pittsburgh (2011) and Cincinnati (2012-13), he batted .254 (171-for-673) with 32 doubles, 12 home runs and 71 RBI in 335 career games.
Ahmed, 24, hit .228 (13-for-57) with 2 doubles, 1 home run and 4 RBI in 19 games with the D-backs. Kieschnick, 27, played in 25 games for the D-backs and hit.195 (8-for-41) with a double, homer and 2 RBI over 3 stints (April 24-30, June 16-July 11 & July 31-Aug. 8). The D-backs' 40-man roster is now at 38.
The turnover on the Diamondbacks roster remains high, with another rookie getting the call-up from the minors. It'll be interesting to see whether Chafin will be used to replace a starter (Vidal Nuno has looked shaky after his first start, with a 5.13 ERA), or if he is here to provide some more long relief out of the bullpen. Kieschnick certainly has done little to deserve a roster spot, but it would be tough to say his being replaced by Paul will move the needle much. Cue played-out comments about "Post-season, here we come!" Cue me inserting deadhorse.gif.