2023 Arizona Diamondbacks Reviews: #55, Peter Solomon

Overview

• Rating: 2.49
• 2023 stats: 5 GR, 13.1 IP, 0-0 record, 12.15 ERA, 2.100 WHIP, -0.5 bWAR
• Date of birth: August 16, 1996
• 2023 salary: League minimum
• 2024 status: Free-agent

Vote breakdown

2023 in review

Having written close to fifteen hundred words about Madison Bumgarner yesterday, I think it’s safe to say that this won’t be anywhere close to as long. Though in terms of overall use, the twp players are right next to each other: Bumgarner threw only 3.1 more innings than Solomon. However, when you’re on the receiving end of an $85 million contract, it creates rather different expectations from being taken for free. The latter is how Solomon arrived in Arizona. Originally a 4th-round pick by the Astros in 2017, he moved to Pittsburgh in September 2022, when the Pirates picked him off waivers. Three months later, without reaching the majors, he became a D-back in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft.

This re-united him with former pitching coach Brent Strom, who had been with the Astros when Solomon made his major-league debut for them in 2021. He had a nice 1.29 ERA over 14 innings, but the peripherals were less impressive, with a K:BB ratio of 10:8. His Triple-A numbers in 2022, between Houston and Pittsburgh organizations, weren’t much to write home about: a 5.58 ERA to go with a K:BB of 98:54 across 109.2 innings. But he had a decent spring, the only damage across 6.2 innings being a solo home-run, with seven strikeouts and three walks. It wasn’t enough to get him on the Opening Day roster, but a few days later, when Zach Davies hit the IL Solomon got the call to provide long relief.

Well, it was long, to be sure. His five appearances were all at least two innings, ranging from there up to 3.2 innings. But he didn’t miss many bats, with a season high for strikeouts of... two. Instead, he walked just about everyone, with eleven walks in 13.1 innings. He had one decent outing, a three-inning scoreless appearance in Miami on April 14. But five days later he was torched for seven earned runs in 2.1 innings by the Cardinals. becoming the 12th reliever in team history to give up as many in an outing. Later in the month, he allowed six ER at Coors, making Solomon the only Arizona reliever with multiple 6+ earned run outings here. Not bad for a career that lasted little more than three weeks.

For Peter was optioned back to Reno on May 3, and then taken off the 40-man roster entirely on May 29, to make room for Kristian Robinson. He did not fare well in Reno, bouncing between there and AA Amarillo the rest of the year. His final line for the Aces was 1-7 with a 10.00 ERA and a 2.389 WHIP. Even allowing for the hitter-friendly nature of the PCL, that’s not good. Solomon elected free agency on October 3, and will take his chances on the free market. It didn’t work out for him and Arizona, but two people did post a higher ERA for the D-backs than Solomon. Admittedly, one of those IS Josh Rojas...