3 Diamondbacks Non-Roster Invitees Who Could Make the Opening Day Roster
One of the great things in my opinion about spring training is getting the entire spring training roster and all the players names and numbers so if you are a big autograph junkie like me, to see who all is in camp. As they approach you either in a game or on the back fields you can cheat and know their name before they get to you, and it gives you a chance to get their card or picture ready for them to sign. But when I go home and watch a game during spring training on television, I always go over the lengthy roster and try to pick a few guys who are not on the 40 man roster who I believe can actually make and help the team. This year I have selected three. But, only one of them will have to be added to the 40 man, as the other two can be placed on injured reserve and will have to help the club in the second half of the season. This season, I did not get the lengthy list for the Diamondbacks, but I did get the list of non-roster invitees from friends at Arizona Diamondbacks- stats and info, which I suggest you follow on Twitter.
Chris Devenski has had a career of ups and downs. He has gone from player to be named later to All-Star and World Series game winner. The Chicago White Sox selected Devenski in the 25th round, with the 771st overall selection, of the 2011 MLB baseball player Draft. Devenski was traded to the Houston Astros in August as the player to be named later in an earlier trade where the White Sox acquired Brett Myers. The Astros assigned him to the Lexington Legends of the Class A Midwest League where on August 31, in his fifth start for Lexington, he threw a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts. For the 2013 season he again started in Lexington and in one of his downs pitched to a 7.88 ERA in 75.1 innings pitched and was demoted. 2014 saw Devenski once again go to Lexington but this time was promoted to the AA Corpus Christi Hooks. The next season he ended up finishing the season with a 3.01 ERA in 119.2 innings and in one of his ups was promoted to their AAA team specifically for the play-offs where he pitched 7 innings giving up only one hit helping the Fresno Grizzlies win the Triple-A National Championship. He was named both the AA Pitcher of the Year for the Hooks and the MVP for the Championship series with the Grizzlies.
In another up, the Astros promoted Devenski to the majors on April 8th where he finished the 2016 season with a 2.16 ERA in 48 appearances. On July 7th 2017 when he was named to the American League All-Star team he had a 2.09 ERA in 51.1 innings pitched, and led all major league relief pitchers in innings pitched, in strikeouts with 72, and tied for the most wins, with 6. And the down came on September 15, 2020, Devenski underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow and missed the rest of the 2020 season. On January 20, 2021, Devenski signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks and on March 29, 2021, Devenski was selected to the 40-man roster. On May 15, the downward spiral started, Devenski was placed on the 60-day injured list with a sprained right UCL. then on June 6, Devenski underwent Tommy John surgery, officially ending his 2021 season.
But, the good news is his last few baseball interactions have been down, so it is time for the 31 year old right-hander to now begin his upward trajectory. For his career, he has more strikeouts than innings pitched with 337 and 316.1. In his 6 year career his batting average against is .221 with a 26.5% strikeout and 6.7% walk rate. He will not be ready for opening day with his latest surgery on June 6th and Tommy John surgery usually has a 12-18 month turnaround. But, if he can come back and be effective toward the end of the year, that might be what the Diamondbacks need for a play-off push.
Keone Kela, whose nickname is Llave, which loosely translated is a firing mechanism of a gun, underwent Tommy John surgery on May 19th 2021 to repair the damaged UCL in his right elbow, He is not expected to return until at least the middle of the 2022 season.
Kela was born in Los Angeles but much of his father's family is from Hawaii. His grandparents are from Keaukaha where Kela spent each summer growing up. Ironically, he was chosen by the SeattleMariners in the 29th round of the 2011 MLB Draft, but did not sign and enrolled at Everett Community College, where he played college baseball as a center fielder for one season.
Then the Texas Rangers selected him as a 12th round draft pick with the 396th overall selection in 2012. The Rangers invited Kela to Spring Training in 2015 where he made the Rangers' Opening Day roster. He had elbow surgery and missed three months of the 2016 season however, he still pitched to a 5-1 record. He was anointed as the Ranger's closer in 2018.
On July 31st 2018 he was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Taylor Hearn and a player to be named later, who ended up being Sherten Apostel. His time in Pittsburgh was not as successful. In an April 7, 2019 game against the Cincinnatti Reds, Kela was ejected after his role in a bench clearing incident On July 30, 2019, Kela was involved in a second bench-clearing fracas against the Reds, and was suspended for 2 games. Kela made 32 appearances for the Pirates in 2019, pitching to a 2.12 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 29.2 innings of work. In 2020, Kela only made 3 appearances for the team, giving up 1 run in 2.0 innings with 3 strikeouts.
On February 18, 2021, Kela signed a one-year, 1.2MM contract with the San Diego Padres In 12 games for San Diego, Kela pitched to a 2-2 record and 5.06 ERA with 13 strikeouts.
I actually delayed this article a couple days to add and do the proper research on this 4th player the Diamondbacks claimed off waivers earlier this week. His name is Caleb Baragar. In the last 2 seasons with the San Francisco Giants, he has appeared in 49 games, 48 of them in relief. He owns an overall record of 7-2 with an ERA of 2.78. in 45.1 innings. But there is one glaring stat, that makes you cringe when you look at the stat sheet knowing that his home park is Chase Field and that if he makes the opening day roster he will also pitch in Colorado. The average pitcher has a fly ball rate of 24.3%, Baragar's is 40%.
Caleb was born April 9th 1994 in Jenison Michigan where he attended Jenison High School and threw two no hitters. This lead him to attend his first two years of college at Jackson State, and his last two years at Indiana University. He was then selected in the 9th round of the 2016 MLB Player Draft by the Giants.
After four years in the Giants minor leagues, where he went a combined 18-20 with a 3.82 ERA he was invited to Spring Training in the 2020 season where he made the opening day roster. He earned the win in his major league debut pitching two scoreless innings against the Dodgers July 25, 2020. That season we went on to go 5-1 with a 4.03 ERA, pitching 22.1 innings in 24 games. In the 2021 he pitched in the majors for 23 innings in 25 games and 22.1 innings in 22 games With AAA Sacramento. He was 2-1 with 2 saves and a 1.57 ERA with the Giants, but in AAA his ERA ballooned to 8.46.
Even with the inflated AAA ERA I am not sure why the Giants essentially gave up on him. As of this writing he is a couple weeks away from turning 28. Yes, he has a few flaws like the 40% mentioned above and the fact that he has given up more hits (36) than he has strikeouts (35) in his career but he has kept his walk numbers low (17) for his career maintaining a 2/1 strikeout to walk ratio. There are some tools with Baragar that I think can be worked with, and some definite improvements that need to be made to turn a cup of coffee into a productive major league career. But in a no pressure environment like Arizona he may find the right amount of cream and sugar.