News Diamondbacks Team Notes

The Diamondbacks announced that right-hander Trevor Richards has been designated for assignment. Left-hander Brandyn Garcia was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move, and though Garcia was already on the 40-man roster, the DFA may have been necessary since Richards has enough big league service time that he couldn’t be optioned to the minors without his consent.

Arizona signed Richards to a minor league contract in June and selected him to the active roster after the All-Star break, with Richards delivering a 3.38 ERA over two appearances and 2 2/3 innings in a D’Backs uniform. Richards has signed minors deals with the Cubs, Royals, and Diamondbacks since the start of 2025, and those contracts translated into 5 2/3 total innings at the big league level with Arizona and Kansas City.

A veteran of eight Major League seasons, Richards has a 4.53 ERA over 565 2/3 career innings in the Show with seven different teams. Richards has worked in a variety of roles (starter, reliever, opener, swingman, long man) over his career, while frequently battling some inconsistent control. Richards had a 31.3% strikeout rate over 201 innings during the 2021-23 seasons, but that number has dropped sharply to a 21.9 K% in 71 big league frames since the start of the 2024 campaign.

Richards has enough of a track record that an interested team might put in a waiver claim. Given the timing of the DFA, a claim could come after the July 31 trade deadline, if a club needs to fill a hole in the bullpen. Richards has been outrighted before, so if he clears waivers, he has the right to reject an outright assignment from the Diamondbacks and instead opt for free agency.
 
Eugenio Suárez was sent for x-rays on his hand after being hit by a pitch during tonight’s loss to the Tigers, D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic). Suárez later told Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free-Press and other reporters that the x-rays came back negative. He remains day to day, but that’s a huge relief for the D-Backs and teams that are targeting the star third baseman as a deadline pickup.

Suárez was hitting in the top of the ninth against Detroit right-hander Will Vest. He took a 96 MPH fastball off his right hand and was in obvious discomfort. The trainer appeared to be looking at Suárez’s right index finger, and he winced in pain when the trainer touched it. Blaze Alexander entered as a pinch-runner.

The D-Backs already dodged a bullet earlier in the month when Suárez was hit by a pitch on his left pinky finger during the All-Star Game. That only resulted in a contusion. Tonight’s HBP was on the opposite hand. Further testing is still to come but it appears that Suarez and the Snakes may have averted disaster for a second time this month. A serious injury would have been awful timing. Suarez is one of the top trade candidates ahead of Thursday’s deadline. In fact, MLBTR just put him in the #1 spot in our recent Top 50 list.

The Diamondbacks have suffered a large number of injuries this year, which have cut into their competitive chances. They are now 51-56 and 6.5 games back of a playoff spot. They have pivoted into sell mode, flipping guys who are nearing free agency. They’ve already traded Josh Naylor to the Mariners and Randal Grichuk to the Royals.

Suárez is the most attractive of the guys they have available this week. He’s been one of the hottest hitters on the planet for over a year now. Dating back to July 7th of last year, he has hit 60 home runs. He has a .274/.331/.598 batting line in that time and 151 wRC+. His defense at third base is subpar but he’s be the best bat available across the league.

His contract is notable but not egregious. The Snakes picked up a $15MM club option for his services this year. That leaves about $5MM left to be paid out. If Arizona wants to maximize the prospect return, they could eat some of that to take the burden off the acquiring club. Suárez has already been connected to clubs like the Phillies, Mariners, Reds, Cubs and Yankees. The Yanks are presumably out after getting Ryan McMahon instead, but the market for Suárez should still be strong.

If further testing does reveal some kind of notable injury, it would obviously be a blow to the Diamondbacks and the clubs who are hoping to acquire him. For the Snakes, they would at least have the chance to make him a qualifying offer at season’s end. If he were to reject that and sign elsewhere, they would get a compensatory draft pick. They are surely hoping to get more value than that by trading him in the coming days, but it would at least be a viable fallback plan.

Ideally though, the crisis has been averted and Suárez can be part of a headline-grabbing deal in the coming days, netting the Diamondbacks some future talent to help them bounce back from this rough season.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
 
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