Philip Abner optioned to Triple-A, Diamondbacks down to 1 lefty reliever
The Diamondbacks optioned southpaw reliever Philip Abner to Triple-A and reassigned two others to minor league camp, getting their roster down to 33 players.
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The Arizona Diamondbacks announced Sunday that southpaw reliever Philip Abner has been optioned to the Triple-A Reno Aces, leaving Brandyn Garcia as the lone lefty arm in bullpen barring a late addition.
There was recent precedent for the club adding a lefty to its bullpen room so close to Opening Day, Arizona signing Jalen Beeks one day before the first game of the 2025 season.
The Diamondbacks also reassigned catcher Aramis Garcia and infielder Jacob Amaya to minor league camp, which brought its camp to 33 players.
Each MLB team has until Opening Day to trim its roster down to 26.
Abner, 23, totaled a 4.66 ERA in nine Cactus League appearances, getting in 9.2 innings pitched and striking out 12 batters.
The former 2023 MLB Draft sixth-round pick by Arizona had five major league outings last season, racking up a 4.91 ERA in 3.2 innings pitched. He struck out five and walked three across his performances.
Abner will next have a chance to pitch in the Aces’ season-opener on Friday against the Tacoma Rainiers, which is the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.
Amaya, a 27-year-old originally drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017, had a productive spring with a .341 batting average (15 for 44), batted in 10 runs, and scored 10 runs on the bases.
His reassignment signals that Ildemaro Vargas will likely be the backup shortstop behind Geraldo Perdomo to start 2026.
The 33-year-old Garcia made 10 Cactus League appearances for the D-backs after receiving a non-roster invitation. He batted .200 (5 for 25) and committed one error in 62 fielding chances.
Garcia had been designated for assignment by Arizona last June before being outrighted by the Aces four days later.
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Comments
3 Comments
Spring Training ERAs:
Philip Abner: 4.66 ERA
Brandyn Garcia: 13.50 ERA
Abner has been optioned to the Triple-A Reno Aces but Garcia is still with the club. WTF? A 4.66 ERA as a reliever isn't good but it is far better than 13.50 ERA.
Garcia was traded to Dbacks as part of the Josh Naylor trade. He had a 5.84 ERA with the Dbacks last season. My guess that he will be on the team so that the Dbacks management can save face from another poor trade.
I love Blaze....but have you taken a look at the studs we have in the minors in the infield? Tommy Troy, Fernandez, Groover.... Not to mention the outfield!
Trading him was the right move. Too early to tell if we got the wrong guy in return.
There WAS one guy in your system who could play EVERY position--Blaze(!)--perhaps they should have kept him & asked him to pitch?--he'd probably be better than all these wannabee arms they've picked up off season.
On the other hand SS (the position least in need of replacements/backups) has about a half dozen budding talents near ready on the front burner....not exactly a balanced development system. Maybe develop a first baseman or two if you guys get around to it!?