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#Dbacks recall Jhoulys Chacín, Andrew Chafin, Jamie Romak, and Allen Webster from Triple-A Reno and Socrates Brito from Double-A Mobile.
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 8, 2015
#Dbacks also select the contract of outfielder Peter O'Brien from the Triple-A Reno @Aces.
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 8, 2015
#Dbacks recall pitcher Evan Marshall from the Triple-A Reno @Aces and place him on the 60-day DL.
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 8, 2015
A number of those names are entirely familiar, having played for the team at some point in the season already: Chacin, Chafin, Romak and Webster have all been seen, to some degree and with varying amounts of success this season. The Marshall move is presumably needed to make room on our 40-man roster, and it's the two moves involving outfielders yet to appear for the Diamondbacks, which will likely be the ones most of interest, as it looks like we will see the debuts of both O'Brien and Brito.
Brito was already on the 40-man roster, and spent the season with Mobile in AA, for whom he batted exactly .300, with an OPS of .790, a K:BB ratio of 84:28 and 20 stolen-bases in 26 attempts. If he seems to have been around forever, that's because this was his sixth season in our farm system, having been signed out of the Dominican Republic back in 2010. Actually, we signed him twice. Two months after the first time in February 2010, he failed a drug-test and got a 50-game suspension, leading to the voiding of his contract, but he was re-signed in May, and seems to have kept his nose clean since. He turned 23 on Sunday, so is still a young kid.
Though we knew there were issues when we acquired him from the Yankees in the Martin Prado deal, there was hope at one point that O'Brien would be our catcher of the future/ But his flaws behind the plate were painfully obvious in spring training, and it wasn't long into the minor-league season before that idea was abandoned, with O'Brien moving to the outfield. No doubting his power, with 26 home-runs for the Aces, giving him an OPS Of .884 and a K:BB ratio of 124:31. That's isn't awesome for the PCL and Reno - the team OPS overall was .801 - but having turned 25 in July, Peter is still a bit young for the level.
It's going to be very interesting to see what happens here, not least because the Diamondbacks already have four established outfielders, playing (more or less) solidly, and under contract for at least the next several years. Brito can play all three outfield positions, but perhaps seems closest in type to A.J. Pollock. O'Brien is almost the opposite, a slugger who would appear to be similar in style to Yasmany Tomas, with questions about his plate discipline and defense. It's not impossible that this winter will see one or other of O'Brien and Brito traded - in which case, this month could prove a showcase - or one of the existing quartet moved, to make room.
Perhaps as interesting as the names called up is one notable by its absence: no Archie Bradley. He pitched solidly in his last rehab start with Reno, but it doesn't appear the team think starting him in September will serve any real purpose. I imagine there will be (sigh - yes, again) a contest in spring training for rotation spots and he, along with fellow prospect Aaron Blair, will certainly be part of that conversation.