Evan Marshall will be with the D’backs for the remainder of 2014. Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
It has only been three games but Evan Marshall has made quite an impression with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He has not allowed a run in his three and a third innings of work and if you combine his numbers from Triple A Reno, Marshall has given up exactly one run in twenty innings. At 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds and bringing a 95 MPH fastball, no doubt D’backs fans are pumped whenever the 24-year old right-hander enters a game.
So let me get this out there now: Evan Marshall is here to stay. J.J. Putz is scheduled to come off the disabled list on May 19th but it appears he might need another day or two after that. As much as Putz has done for this franchise, do you want the team to send down Marshall in favor of him? I sure don’t and I don’t believe management does, either. It’s the same thinking that prompted Kevin Towers and company to promote first Mike Bolsinger and then Chase Anderson ahead of veteran Randy Wolf. In addition, it’s not as though Marshall’s three appearances have come in blowouts. In his first game, he was the winning pitcher throwing an inning and a third with two strikeouts. He pitched in the seventh inning of the other two contests, games in which the Snakes were trying to hold tight leads. That doesn’t sound like a rookie pitcher who is only a place holder on the Major League depth chart.
While the season has been a major disappointment, it is good to see young pitcher such as Marshall get a chance to show his stuff on the Major League level. In a year or two, a bullpen featuring him, Jake Barrett and Matt Stites could be pretty exciting. Hopefully, we will get to see Marshall mow down some Dodgers this weekend at Chase Field.
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