How Will Diamondbacks Handle Looming Roster Crunch?

With only 12 pitchers on roster and 13 games in 13 days, which position players are on the bubble?

The Diamondbacks have a roster crunch looming. They currently have 12 pitchers and 14 position players on the 26-man roster. Typically they carry the maximum allowed 13 pitchers, however due to multiple off days recently they had the luxury to carry an extra position player during their road trip to Colorado and Texas.  This allowed them to cover the knee injury to Corbin Carroll by calling up outfielder Dominic Fletcher.

They begin a 10 game home stand tomorrow night at Chase Field, and will play 13 games in 13 days between May 5th to the 17th. Thanks to the off day today, they may not feel the need to add another relief pitcher right away at the beginning of this stretch, but almost certainly within a few days they will need to add a pitcher to help cover innings. Doing so will  result in a roster crunch on the position player side of things. 

The most obvious move might have been to simply option the 25 year old Fletcher back to Reno and call up a pitcher when they need one. But Fletcher hit the ground running, knocking four hits in his first 10 at bats, including a sharply hit double in the gap for his first major league hit. Fletcher has a strong history of hitting with a  minor league career slash line of .298/.362/.474.  He's hit well over .300 over the last two years in Reno and has a He's looked very good at the plate during his brief stint in MLB so far, and plays very good defense with a strong right field arm. So the team may consider him more than a stopgap option. 

Meanwhile Alek Thomas continues to slump. Just last week Michael McDermott asked the question Should Alek Thomas be Worried?  With a batting line of just .176/.248/.308, .555 OPS, the team may be approaching the point where they may feel he needs some work in Reno to get straightened out.  The Diamondbacks have shown they are serious about trying to win now, and have not hesitated to option struggling young players to Reno. The most recent examples being outfielder  Jake McCarthy and pitcher Drey Jameson. 

But defense is extremely important on this team. If Thomas were sent down  the D-backs would be starting Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in left field,  Carroll in center field, and Fletcher in right field.  Fletcher can play center when Carroll needs a day off, but this alignment would press Pavin Smith into more frequent outfield corner innings when someone needs a day off. Smith is a below average outfielder with poor range, and was exposed recently in Colorado misjudging several balls.  So the D-backs may opt to keep Thomas on the roster but simply cut his at bats in favor of Fletcher, and utilize Thomas as a defensive replacement, fourth outfielder. 

The D-backs also called up Emmanuel Rivera recently. Rivera is providing additional right-handed hitting options for manager Torey Lovullo, and has taken advantage of sporadic playing since being recalled, going 9-22, .409 since April 25th.  Most of Rivera's playing time has come at DH and third base so far. 

Emmanuel Rivera playing time since April 25th

Baseball Reference

The DH playing time has come primarily in place of the injured Kyle Lewis who is getting closer to being able to go on a rehab assignment. But Rivera's playing time has also cut into Evan Longoria's to some degree. Longoria is a veteran on a free agent contract and cannot be optioned. He started off well but has slumped of late and is batting just .200 with a .629 OPS in 65 PA for the season.  The team may not need to make a decision on Rivera until Kyle Lewis is ready to come back, but this is a situation the bears watching as well. 

The D-backs may take the path of least resistance and simply option Fletcher back to Reno, but contemplating their potential moves in the context of their recent "win now" behavior creates the interesting and challenging scenarios above. These are good problems to have.  While there are many issues for the team on the pitching side of the ledger, the D-backs have established a strong pipeline of position player depth that will continue to reap dividends throughout the long 162-game season.