Newly-Acquired Reliever Brad Ziegler Unhittable Recently

On Tuesday afternoon, the Arizona Diamondbacks made a move to acquire Brad Ziegler from the Miami Marlins. Ziegler, who appeared in 348 games with the Diamondbacks between 2011 and 2016, was dealt for minor league pitcher Tommy Eveld.

As a member of the Marlins, Brad Ziegler posted a 3.98 ERA in an NL-best 53 appearances. With that said, it’s what he’s done recently that is most impressive.

Over the course of his last 19 appearances, the 38-year-old righty allowed just one earned run in 17 innings pitched. During this stretch, he’s kept opposing hitters to a .132 batting average and .189 slugging percentage.

Besides Ziegler, the Diamondbacks also made a play to get Jake Diekman from the Texas Rangers, per ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. Diekman, a lefty arm, has posted a 3.69 ERA in 47 appearances in 2018. According to Crasnick, the deal is “done pending medicals”.

Diekman was traded for Taiwanese reliever Wei-Chieh Huang, per The Athletic’s Robert Murray.

Right now, Arizona is a half-game up on the Atlanta Braves for the final National League Wild Card spot. However, they’re also just a half-game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL West lead.

Per ESPN, the Diamondbacks made room for Ziegler by moving right-handed starter Shelby Miller to the 60-day DL.