The Diamondbacks announced that right-hander Drey Jameson has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. He had been out since late July with right hip inflammation. In a corresponding move, fellow righty Zack Littell has been designated for assignment. In a separate move, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports that righty Michael Soroka is going on the 15-day IL with right shoulder inflammation. Righty Gerardo Carrillo is being recalled to fill Soroka’s active roster spot. The team’s 40-man roster stands at 39 with these moves.
Littell joined Arizona on a major league deal a couple of weeks ago after he was released by the Nationals. The Diamondbacks only owed him the prorated league minimum, as the Nats remain on the hook for most of the guaranteed money. Having worked as a swingman with Washington, Littell’s new club opted to use him in long relief. That started out nicely, as he worked 4 2/3 scoreless innings on just 45 pitches on August 10th in a piggyback role behind Soroka.
Littell’s next two appearances were nowhere near as good. He got torched for eight runs (six earned) in 3 2/3 innings on August 17th against the Red Sox. Just yesterday, he allowed four earned runs in another 3 2/3 innings, throwing 65 pitches in the process. The combination of Littell’s poor results and yesterday’s high pitch count make today’s DFA unsurprising.
He’ll now get swapped out for fresh arms in Jameson and Carrillo, one of whom will presumably take over the long relief role. Littell has the service time to reject an outright assignment while retaining his guaranteed money, so he could try electing free agency and latching on with another team for the last month and change of the season.
While Littell’s DFA subtracts an ineffective arm from the bullpen, the loss of Soroka will be much more impactful on the rotation. The 29-year-old righty started yesterday’s game and allowed six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings, giving up six hits along with three walks and one hit batter. That was a rare dud in what has otherwise been a strong bounce-back campaign for Soroka. In 18 starts for the Diamondbacks, he has a solid 3.40 ERA, 3.79 SIERA, and 23.0% strikeout rate. FanGraphs values him at 2.4 wins above replacement, which ranks second on the team behind Eduardo Rodriguez (2.6 fWAR).
It’s unfortunately not the first IL placement of the season for Soroka. He previously missed time from late June to early August with a left glute strain. He returned on August 10th and was effective over his next ten innings before yesterday’s blow-up. It’s possible that Soroka’s shoulder was affecting his performance, and he’ll now go back on the IL in an attempt to rest it. The team hasn’t provided a timeline on Soroka, though with barely a month left in the season, it’s possible he won’t be back in time to aid in the team’s push for a Wild Card spot.
More to come.
