Arizona Diamondbacks add 4 players to 40-man roster
Nov 20, 2019, 4:22 PM | Updated: 7:37 pm
General manager Mike Hazen of the Arizona Diamondbacks watches batting practice during a postseason workout at Chase Field (Photo by Sarah Sachs/Arizona Diamondbacks/Getty Images)
(Photo by Sarah Sachs/Arizona Diamondbacks/Getty Images)
The Arizona Diamondbacks made a few roster moves on Wednesday, adding four players to their 40-man roster to bring the total to 39.
Infielder Wyatt Mathisen, right-handed pitcher Riley Smith, right-handed pitcher Taylor Widener and infielder Andy Young were the four players added.
Widener was ranked in 2019 as the D-backs’ No. 13 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline.
Progressing a year at a time through the levels in the minors, Widener had the bump from Double-A to the Triple-A Reno Aces last season and had an 8.10 ERA in 23 starts, a large drop-off from his 2.75 ERA in 25 starts at Double-A in 2018.
Widener was acquired from the New York Yankees in 2018’s three-team deal that saw the D-backs trade Brandon Drury to the Yankees and Anthony Banda to the Tampa Bay Rays. The D-backs alos received Steven Souza Jr. from Tampa.
Young is the other player of the four ranked in the top 30 prospects at 23rd.
The least-thought-of out of the three prospects the D-backs received from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Paul Goldschmidt last offseason, Young played for Reno and Double-A Jackson last season, hitting .271 between the two clubs with 29 home runs, 81 RBI and an impressive .903 OPS.
Smith, a 24th-round pick in 2016 out of LSU, also played for both of those teams like Young in 2019. He threw 134 innings over 25 starts for a 4.43 ERA.
Lastly, Mathisen is a former second-round pick in 2012 by the Pittsburgh Pirates that the D-backs signed to a minor league contract last November. For Reno last season, he hit .283 with 23 home runs and 61 RBI with a strong OPS of 1.004.
