He came over from the Braves in the Justin Upton trade of 2013, and, according to Nick J. A 25-year-old who landed squarely on the Mendoza line in 75 plate appearances last year, Ahmed is a glove-first player who’s unlikely to offer much at the plate. Hale told reporters, including MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert, that Gammons’ report was an educated but premature “assumption,” though the skipper admitted that the team hasn’t been shy about offering “glowing” reviews of Ahmed. But hours later, first-year manager Chip Hale had a message for everyone eager to etch the club’s depth chart in stone: Hold your horses. My biggest fear is something happening when you weren’t doing anything.Diamondbacks infield arrangement still in fluxĪ Monday morning report from Peter Gammons, which indicated that Nick Ahmed had gone from darkhorse to favorite in the battle to be the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day shortstop, set off a chain of speculation about the rest of the team’s infield plans.

You can feel the difference, I think, whether you’ve got sticky stuff or not. “It could get discolored from rubbing the balls. “The balls are rubbed up with mud and you sweat, you rub the ball up, you use the resin bag, your hand is going to get a little bit - it’s not going to feel like it does now,” he said. The topic, he said, was about the league’s decision to be even more strident in checking pitchers hands for sticky stuff. *Bumgarner had a brief chat with the home-plate umpire at one point during his start on Sunday. They also reassigned right-hander Kevin Ginkel and catcher Grayson Greiner to minor league camp.

The Diamondbacks optioned right-hander Edwin Uceta to Triple-A Reno. “It’s a good working relationship.” Short hops “He likes to tinker and I like to tinker, so we’ve experimented around a little bit pretty much every day,” Bumgarner said. He said Strom told him he watched some 30 hours of video on Bumgarner before spring training. “Everybody claims to be, but I haven’t ran into anybody that I thought was an actual mixture until now.” “He’s probably the first mixture I’ve seen of the old and new school,” Bumgarner said. Left-hander Madison Bumgarner said he hasn’t had much time to work with new pitching coach Brent Strom, but he sounded impressed so far. VanMeter, who was acquired from the Cincinnati Reds as part of the Archie Bradley trade in July 2020, has not been productive at the plate during parts of two seasons with the Diamondbacks and has been mistake-prone defensively, including in games this spring. To make room for Alcantara, who is out of minor league options, the Diamondbacks designated infielder Josh VanMeter for assignment. He originally signed with the Diamondbacks out of the Dominican Republic in 2012 but was traded to the Detroit Tigers in July 2017 as part of the deadline deal for slugger J.D. 199/.296/.332 hitter in 278 plate appearances in the majors. Beyond Ahmed and Perdomo, the club has Josh Rojas and Jake Hager, neither of whom are viewed as the sort of surefire defender at the position that Alcantara is.Īlcantara, 25, is a career.

Prior to the deal, the club’s depth at the position was growing thin. The Diamondbacks bolstered their shortstop depth on Sunday evening in acquiring Sergio Alcantara from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for cash considerations. If Ahmed isn’t ready to start the season, it likely would open the door for prospect Geraldo Perdomo.Īhmed said early in camp that while his shoulder wasn't perfect he believed he was going to be able to play through it with the right treatment program. He managed to play through it for most of that year, but it began nagging him again during the 2021 season. Last week, Ahmed was somewhat evasive when asked about the potential for surgery, but the injury’s recurrence raises questions about whether he will be left with little choice.Īhmed first suffered the injury in July 2020, when he dived for a ball days before the start of the season and “jammed” his shoulder.

Diamondbacks shortstop