The Diamondbacks introduced a collection of roster strikes this afternoon, headlined by them deciding on the contract of right-hander Scott McGough. Proper-hander Yilber Diaz was optioned to the minors in a corresponding transfer, and righty J.P. Feyereisen was designated for project to make room for McGough on the 40-man roster.
McGough, 35, was a fifth-round decide by the Dodgers in 2011 who debuted within the majors with the Marlins again in 2015. He made simply six appearances for Miami earlier than spending the next years bouncing across the minor leagues with Colorado and Baltimore till he departed stateside ball totally forward of his age-29 season to pitch for Nippon Skilled Baseball’s Yakult Swallows. He put collectively a really spectacular resume in 4 seasons because the Swallows’ nearer, with a 2.94 ERA in 232 2/3 innings of labor and a 26.0% strikeout charge.
That efficiency was sufficient to get him stateside consideration from Arizona, and McGough departed Japan to signal with the Diamondbacks previous to the 2023 season for $6.25MM assured over two years. That call proved to be a mistake for the Snakes. McGough was a beneath common however comparatively satisfactory center reliever for Arizona in his first 12 months with the membership, posting a 4.73 ERA (93 ERA+) and an identical 4.76 FIP throughout 70 1/3 innings of labor for the staff. Whereas he struck out a strong 25.6% of his opponents, McGough was held again by a ten% stroll charge and troubles with the lengthy ball as a whopping 24.6% of his fly balls left the yard for dwelling runs.
That poor fortune led to some superior metrics like his 3.49 SIERA pointing to raised days forward, however issues bought even worse in 2024 when his peripherals collapsed throughout the board. The righty’s age-34 season noticed him submit a 16.7% strikeout charge towards a 14% stroll charge, leaving him with a ghastly 7.44 ERA and a 6.04 FIP throughout his 26 appearances. The Diamondbacks made the straightforward determination to say no a 2025 membership choice on his companies final winter, although they ultimately re-signed him to a minor league deal in April. Now, he’ll be tabbed to assist eat innings for a Diamondbacks bullpen that has surrendered a 4.69 ERA and not too long ago misplaced one in every of its high relievers, A.J. Puk, to the injured record.
Making room for McGough on the 40-man roster is Feyereisen, who has been at Triple-A with the Diamondbacks after surrendering three runs (two earned) on three hits in two innings of labor. The transfer comes as one thing of a shock given his dominance at Triple-A Reno, the place he’s posted a 0.96 ERA in 9 1/3 innings of labor. That work got here with only a 17.9% strikeout charge, nonetheless, and Feyereisen was torched for an 8.18 ERA in ten appearances with the Dodgers on the massive league stage simply final 12 months. The 32-year-old has been struggling to get again into an everyday function within the majors ever since he underwent shoulder surgical procedure with the Rays again in 2022 and has simply 13 innings of labor within the majors within the years since then. The Diamondbacks can have one week to both commerce Feyereisen or try to cross him by way of waivers, at which level he’ll be capable to both settle for an outright project or reject it in favor of free company ought to he not get claimed by a rival membership earlier than then.
