Jake McCarthy to be Recalled, Dominic Fletcher Optioned to Reno
Jake McCarthy was a surprise breakout player for the Diamondbacks last year, battling through two send outs to the minors to end up posting one of the best seasons on the team, with a batting line of .283/.342/.427, 118 OPS+ in 354 plate appearances. He was also a terror on the base paths, stealing 23 bags while getting caught just three times.
A Covid-19 infection disrupted his spring training this year in March, and he was never able to get his timing down before the season started, according to manager Torey Lovullo. That led to poor swing choices and an overall terrible start to the season. McCarthy went 9-63, .143 with one homer and three RBI. He attempted just four steals, and was caught twice. After the game on April 24th McCarthy was optioned to Reno to try to fix his swing and approach. Back in 2022 when he was optioned to Reno he told the manager that he felt he should not have been the one optioned, as he had been hitting well. But this time around there were no such protestations.
As he did last year when sent out, McCarthy went down to Reno and performed well. In 105 Plate appearances he hit .333/.419/.593, .952 OPS, including four homers and 17 RBI. He walked 11 times and struck out just 13 times. As reported by Nick Piecoro of AZ Central, that performance has earned him a recall to the major leagues ahead of the series with the Boston Red Sox, starting on Friday at Chase Field.
The corresponding move was to option left-handed hitting outfielder Dominic Fletcher back to Reno. When Fletcher was called up April 30th in Colorado he filled a critical need. Corbin Carroll had injured his knee and with Alek Thomas slumping, the team needed an outfielder capable of manning both right and center field. Fletcher hit well right out of the gate, beginning his career with a six game hitting streak, in which he went 9-21, .429. Then a few days later during a three game stretch against the Giants he went 8-12, .750 with two homers. Through his first dozen games in the majors he hit an eye popping .462, with a 1.231 OPS in 43 PA.
That hot streak came to an end however. He was not taking many walks to begin with and during his next 10 games the hits stopped falling, as he went just 6-39 with 11 strikeouts. He's been hitting the ball on the ground a lot, 51% vs. a league average 42%, and struggling against left-hand pitchers going just 4-24, .167
Fletcher's overall batting line is still a very good .308/.349/.474 in 85 plate appearances. He distinguished himself with the glove, playing excellent defense and showing the best arm out of all of the young Diamondbacks outfielders. His showing proved the quality of the Diamondbacks depth at the outfield position, and provides them the luxury of knowing they have a major league capable ballplayer ready to come up whenever needed.
