Today's #DbacksSpring lineup at the Angels:
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) March 15, 2019
Flores | 2B@escobarmaracay | 3B#FreightTrain | LF@SouzaJr | RF@JakeLamb18 | 1B@NickAhmed13 | SS@SocratesBrito | CF@JRMurphy513 | DH@EutawBackstop | C
---@Mert_723 | P pic.twitter.com/L49UeYdfAf
I hate the way the D-backs line-up Tweets are formatted. When it first loaded, for a moment there, I seriously thought that Nick Ahmed was playing first-base. Hmm. maybe that’s an idea for Rob Manfred if he wants to revive interest in the game: teams submit a roster of eight players, and their positions are determined by random drawing just prior to game-time. I’m sure the prospect of Jake Lamb catching would bring people flocking to the ball-park...
In case you missed it being mentioned in the Snake Bytes comments, the D-backs made some more roster cuts this morning.
Optioned to Triple-A Reno:
- RHP Joey Krehbiel
- RHP Jimmie Sherfy
Reassigned to Minor League camp:
- OF Andrew Aplin
- C Tyler Heineman
- OF Rob Refsnyder
The Sherfy move is probably the first genuine surprise cut so far, given his ERA of exactly 1.00 over his first 26 major-league appearances. That said, his fielding-independent figure was far higher (3.27), though even this is still by no means bad. However, he has looked “off” this spring, and only Merrill Kelly + Nick Green have walked more people. With an option left, sending him to Reno was always a possibility. I think he may end up taking over the role occupied last season by Bus-pass Bracho, and getting used for taxi squad purposes, as and when needed this year.
Merrill Kelly starts for Arizona, and will be hoping to build on a third start which was considerably better than the first two. Fingers crossed those early outings were just part of the process of transitioning from the KBO to the major-leagues. This game is on Fox Sports Arizona, so we’ll be able to see him in action.