Diamondbacks Veteran Pitcher Elects Free Agency

Former Arizona Diamondbacks right-hand reliever Joe Ross has elected free agency, according to the transaction logs on his MLB player page.

Ross had previously been designated for assignment, but he ultimately cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Reno. He will now test his market.

Ross, 32, made three appearances for the Diamondbacks after being a somewhat surprising addition to the opening day roster aheaf of the 2026 season. He posted an extremely ugly 19.64 ERA after two blowup appearances.

Diamondbacks' Joe Ross outrighted, elects free agency

Ross was brought in as a potential long relief option during the offseason. Though he posted a 7.71 ERA in spring training, the D-backs valued his ability to throw a high volume of pitches over multiple innings.

Unfortunately, Ross was not able to eat those innings. He gave up six runs while recording just two outs during an appearance against the Detroit Tigers, turning an 8-0 blowout into a closer 8-6 game.

He gave up two runs on two hits and three walks against the Atlanta Braves in his most recent appearance — a game that would eventually turn into a brutal 17-2 blowout of a loss.

Ross was designated for assigment following that game. In his place, right-hander Taylor Rashi (who also has multi-inning capability) was called up from Triple-A Reno.

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Joe Ross (22) talks to catcher Gabriel Moreno (14) during their game against the Detroit Tigers at Chase Field on March 30, 2026. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"It's one of those unfortunate parts of baseball where you start to... get behind with some pitching and you need arms. And you know, sometimes you have option-able players, sometimes you don't. And Joe wasn't, unfortunately was not throwing the ball that well," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said of the roster move.

"As I told him last night, I don't think we saw anything close to his best and he's going to get another opportunity to pitch in the big leagues. I hope it's with us. If he clears waivers, I told him to think long and hard about coming back. We haven't totally missed on this because 10 days ago we told him he made the team. So we'll see where it takes him."

Ross did clear waivers, but appears to have chosen to pursue opportunities elsewhere. Rashi, meanwhile, pitched a scoreless 10th inning on Sunday, allowing Arizona to engineer a walk-off victory over the Braves to secure a very necessary series split before going on the road.

The Diamondbacks will play three games against the New York Mets this week before continuing a lengthy road trip with stops in Philadelphia and Baltimore.