Arizona Diamondbacks Spring Training Roster Report: Relief Pitchers

NON-ROSTER INVITEES

Feb 19, 2014; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher

poses for a portrait during photo day at Salt River Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Jake Barrett
R.J. Hively
Willy Paredes
Ryan Rowland-Smith
Adam Russell
Seth Simmons
Matt Stites
Jess Todd

We’ll get to Barrett more on the next slide, but the most interesting story here is Rowland-Smith. The Australian from Sydney had a modicum of success with the Seattle Mariners back in the late 2000’s, going 11-7 in his first three seasons, with an ERA of 3.62. Then, the wheels completely fell off and in 2010 he went 1-10 with a 6.75 ERA.

He’s now trying to make it back into the majors after spending the last three years in the minors. As a starter, he continued to fail, going just 2-11 in 2011 with a 5.90 ERA. In 2012 with AAA Iowa, they started playing around with giving Ryan more of a bullpen role and he responded with a respectable 3-6 record and a 3.94 ERA.

He was then sent to the Boston Red Sox organization and flourished in a bullpen role, going 7-0 with a 1.55 ERA in 52.1 innings out of the pen. He allowed just 37 hits with a WHIP of .994. He’s still just 31 years old and having more talented lefties in the pen is always a good thing.