Diamondbacks Gameday Thread, #85: 7/2 @ Dodgers

Roster moves

he Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves. The D-backs’ 40-man roster remains at 39.

• Reinstated from 10-day injured list: C Gabriel Moreno (sprained left thumb)
• Reinstated from 10-day injured list: OF Alek Thomas (strained left hamstring)
• Recalled from Triple-A Reno: RHP Gavin Hollowell (No. 62)
• Optioned to Triple-A Reno: INF Blaze Alexander
• Placed on the 15-day Injured List: LHP Jordan Montgomery (right knee inflammation; retro to June 29)
• Designated for assignment: C Tucker Barnhart

Well, quite a lot to unpack there. The least surprising news is the departure of Barnhart, who has now officially been replaced by Jose Herrera as backup. This probably means Adrian Del Castillo, owning a 1.016 OPS for Reno, is next in line for a call-up, should it be necessary. Also expected is the return of Thomas, and the Blaze Alexander Fan Club will be in shambles because he has been sent down. Considering he had a .348 OPS over the team’s last twenty games, it’s not really a surprise either. And before anyone says it, that’s over a similar amount of PA (40 vs. 46) to what Alexander had in the first twenty games of the season, when the Fan Club was touting his .846 OPS.

What we didn’t see coming is the move of Jordan Montgomery onto the IL. Hollowell’s presence on the roster is potentially only a one and done, because the word is that Cristian Mena is present in the D-backs clubhouse tonight. If he does indeed start tomorrow night in Dodger Stadium, the 21-year-old will be the youngest pitcher to start for Arizona since 2012, when we had... um, Trevor Bauer and Tyler Skaggs. Let’s hope Mena makes better life choices than those two, shall we say. But we’ll have more about Mena in the event of him being the replacement for Montgomery. Tonight, we’ll see if the D-backs can take a win on the road in Los Angeles.