Jhoulys Chacin Earns Another Start For Diamondbacks
Jhoulys Chacin made his debut for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday filling in for the injured Jeremy Hellickson. Hellickson was put on the disabled list with a hamstrung injury, and Chacin did an admirable job filling in the rotation.
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He did so well in fact, he’s earned another start for the Diamondbacks, Jody Jackson of Fox Sports Arizona tweeted.
Chacin had his work cut out for him as his debut came against the team with the best record in Major League Baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals.
He fared well despite taking the loss. He went 6.1 innings, gave up three runs with two of them earned on six hits and one walk and five strike outs.
He pitched effectively, he was in and around the strike zone all night and it was mistakes by the defense that got Chacin stuck with the loss. Arizona had a rare off night on defense, but Chacin’s performance didn’t go unnoticed.
Diamondbacks’ manager, Chip Hale, was impressed with what he saw as well as he stated in his post game comments to the media,
"“Pitched well. Did a great job. Threw strikes. Worked quick. Let guys play. He deserved a better fate, obviously. That’s easy to say. We didn’t play very good defense behind him.”"
It’s been a long road back to the majors for Chacin. Before Monday night, he hadn’t pitched in the majors since May 28, 2014 for division rival Colorado Rockies, where he spent six years. Colorado released him after he suffered an injury to his shoulder.
He was picked up by the Cleveland Indians but didn’t make it out of their minor league system and ultimately opted out of his minor league deal with Cleveland. After leaving the Indians, Arizona picked him up earlier in the season and he’s been pitching at Triple-A Reno.
He made 12 starts for the Aces and went 5-3 with a 3.39 ERA.
Arizona’s pick up of Chacin bolstered their pitching depth. He’s a veteran with a successful past. He was Colorado’s Opening Day starter in 2013 and was one of the few pitchers who weren’t beaten by hitter friendly Coors Field. During his time in Colorado, he ended up pretty high up on the franchise leaders list in several Categories. Chacin is seventh in strike out leaders, eighth in wins, eighth in games started and eighth in innings pitched. He also carried a 3.78 ERA across his six years spent there.
His next start is expected to be on Saturday for game two of a three game set against the Oakland A’s.