Also: Cole’s TJ, Mo’s HGH, Snell’s Korea connection
Diamondbacks News
Halfway through spring, projecting D-backs’ 2025 Opening Day roster by Steve Gilbert [Dbacks.com]
Bench/Utility (1): Garrett Hampson – Hampson was signed to a Minor League deal before the start of camp, and if he continues to show he can handle the infield positions as well as swing the bat a bit, he should have the inside track over players like Grae Kessinger and Connor Kaiser. One player to keep an eye on is veteran Ildemaro Vargas, who has swung a hot bat this spring.
DBacks’ pitcher Drey Jameson talks health and preseason practice by José M. Romero [AZ Central]
Torey Lovullo Gives Three Arizona Diamondbacks Health Updates by Alex D’Agostino [SI]
Right-hand reliever Kendall Graveman, who missed all of 2024 with a shoulder injury, had been suffering from back tightness. He underwent imaging, which came back clean, and reportedly threw a 22-pitch bullpen session over the weekend. He will throw live BP on Tuesday.
Diamondbacks’ Former No. 2 Pick Making Adjustments to Succeed in 2025 by Aaron Hughes [SI]
“I’ve seen him communicating with his off outfielders, taking charge. He’s always engaged inside the dugout,” Lovullo continued. “In fact, I have a note that I’m going to tell the big league staff tomorrow. Dave McKay, yesterday, basically just went like this,” in reference to a very subtle wag of the finger towards right-field, which was picked up, and responded to immediately.
“I was like, wow, that was really impressive for a young player to understand and coordinate and engage with the dugout.”
Diamondbacks Spring Training Roster Cuts Tracker by Michael McDermott [Venom Strikes]
The second round of cuts came on March 10, with three of their top prospects getting optioned to Triple-A Reno and nine more players reassigned to minor league camp. LuJames Groover, one of the top prospects in the Diamondbacks system, highlights the players that have been re-assigned. He’ll start the year in Double-A and could be a late-season addition if he has a strong season.
Yilber Diaz and Cristian Mena both had solid camps but are buried on the depth chart for starting pitching. It’s a matter of getting more reps to get ready for when they’re called upon this year as injury replacements. Diaz made the case for the eighth spot on the rotation depth chart this spring. Tawa is also on a short list of call-up candidates at the start of the year, coming off a breakout season with Double-A and Triple-A in 2024.
Is there much to learn from a Spring Training game against the Dodgers? by Alex Weiner [Arizona Sports]
“It’s probably a bigger deal to everybody outside of our clubhouse, I think the guys coming here know they got to get their reps and get their at-bats,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “It was (John) Curtiss, Drey Jameson, (Scott) McGough and (Bryce) Jarvis, guys we’re watching very closely. I thought it was a good challenge for them.”
Around the League
Never Is a Long, Long Time: Permanent Ineligibility and the Hall of Fame by Jay Jaffe [FanGraphs]
So if Manfred wouldn’t review the status of [Shoeless Joe] Jackson, why would he do so for Rose? Perhaps it’s a matter of extending his grieving family the courtesy of directly reiterating what he wrote in his 2015 decision, when he drew a distinction between the rules of MLB and the rules of the Hall: “Under the Major League Constitution, my only concern has to be the protection of the integrity of play on the field through appropriate enforcement of the Major League Rules. It is not a part of my authority or responsibility here to make any determination concerning Mr. Rose’s eligibility as a candidate for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame.”
Gerrit Cole To Have Tommy John Surgery by Leo Morgenstern [MLB Trade Rumors]
Presumably, the Yankees will consider their options to upgrade their rotation externally. Available free agents include Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, and Spencer Turnbull, although none of those names offer anything close to the star power the Yankees lost. Thus, if GM Brian Cashman wants to find a top-of-the-rotation replacement for Cole, he’ll have to turn to the trade market. Some of the most interesting potential trade candidates include Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins, Luis Castillo of the Mariners, and Dylan Cease and Michael King of the Padres. The most recent reporting on all of those pitchers suggests that an offseason trade is unlikely, but a desperate Yankees team could certainly change that.
Korean star new to MLB? You need to call…Blake Snell? by Sonja Chen, Adam Barry, Maria Guardado [MLB]
“Ha-Seong cares about all the players from Korea so much, making sure that he can help them,” Snell said. “It all really started with him just saying, ‘If you have time, can you talk to him and help kind of ease him into what to expect, what’s going to happen?’”
“I feel like that helped me just get comfortable with life in the big leagues,” Kim said, “so I thought that was important for Jung Hoo and Hyeseong to feel the same way.”
Former MLB slugger Mo Vaughn confirms HGH use late in career [ESPN]
The 1995 American League MVP told The Athletic in a recent interview that he had HGH injected into his knee to extend his career.
“I was trying to do everything I could,” Vaughn told The Athletic. “I knew I had a bad, degenerative knee. I was shooting HGH in my knee. Whatever I could do to help the process.”
Question of the Day