Report: Diamondbacks agree to sign reliever Chris Devenski
Jan 20, 2021, 8:08 AM
A bullpen rebuild is upon the Arizona Diamondbacks, and one of the team’s first moves toward that goal is an agreement to sign right-handed reliever Chris Devenski, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported on Wednesday.
The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro adds that it is a minor league deal.
The one-time All-Star appeared in four games — two in July and two in September — during last year’s coronavirus-shortened season before requiring surgery to remove a bone spur from his throwing elbow. That surgery was expected to come with a recovery time of four months.
Over a five-year career, all with the Houston Astros, Devenski has posted a 3.35 ERA and 1.068 WHIP.
Since his single All-Star appearance in 2017, his ERA has bumped from well below 3.00 in 2016-17 to 4.18 and 4.83 respectively in 2018 and 2019. Then came the limited sample size last year.
In 2020, Devenski allowed six earned runs in just 3.2 innings pitched for the Astros.
Arizona has picked up its free agent involvement in the recent days and on Tuesday inked veteran left-handed reliever Ryan Buchter to a minor league contract. The two recent moves won’t be the last in reshaping the bullpen.
The D-backs traded staples Archie Bradley and Andrew Chafin before last season’s trade deadline and in October declined options for 2021 on the contracts of veteran relievers Hector Rondon and Junior Guerra.
As it stands, the Diamondbacks’ bullpen rotation includes Yoan Lopez, Stefan Crichton and Kevin Ginkel, who along with longer relievers Alex Young, Taylor Clarke and Taylor Widener appeared at least 20 times last year and remain members of the 40-man roster.
