D-backs put Bukauskas on 60-day IL for shoulder, opening spot for Davies

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced Thursday that they placed reliever J.B. Bukauskas on the 60-day injured list, opening a roster spot for the signing of starting pitcher Zach Davies.

Bukauskas suffered a torn teres major in his shoulder and will miss the beginning of the regular season, manager Torey Lovullo said on Saturday.

The right-hander appeared in 21 games last season, allowing 24 hits and 15 earned runs with 14 strikeouts and seven walks in 17.1 innings.

Davies has agreed to sign with Arizona on a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2023, the team confirmed Thursday.

The right-handed pitcher is coming off his worst statistical season. In 32 starts for the Chicago Cubs, Davies went 6-12 with a 5.78 ERA and 1.60 WHIP.

Davies tied for the second-most walks allowed in Major League Baseball, and his 4.6 walks per nine frames was individually his worst since his rookie season (4.0). In the prior five seasons, Davies had not walked more than 2.9 batters per nine innings.

The 29-year-old also got hit harder than ever in 2021, with his home run-to-fly ball ratio jumping to 16.8% when it had never gone beyond 13.1%.

Davies pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers from 2015-19 and then the Padres in 2020 before he was traded to Chicago in a package for San Diego to acquire starting pitcher Yu Darvish and catcher Victor Caratini.

While he struggled last year, he has been a model of health. Davies is one of nine National League pitchers with three 30-plus start seasons since 2017.

Arizona can hope Davies returns to form from just two years ago, which statistically stands up as his best season. Though it came in 12 starts during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, he posted a 2.73 ERA and 1.07 WHIP.

Davies, who grew up in Arizona and attended Mesquite High School in Gilbert, will compete to join a rotation that includes Zac Gallen, Madison Bumgarner, Merrill Kelly and Luke Weaver.

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