Arizona Diamondbacks call up powerful OF Stone Garrett
The Arizona Diamondbacks have deemed that it's time to bring up a player with one of the best names in baseball, Stone Garrett, after he's had a career year with the Reno Aces in Triple-A. The right-handed hitting and throwing outfielder will bring some badly needed power and balance to the Diamondbacks lineup. He's provided a ton of power for the Aces and now will seek to form another reliable right-handed bat in the lefty-leaning lineup.
Stone Garrett is having a career year in his second year in the Diamondbacks' minor league system. Originally an eight-round pick in 2014 with the Miami Marlins, Stone found himself without a team following the Covid-lost 2020 season. Now 26, he's found a new home with the Dbacks. In 2021, he showed the Dbacks he could hit for power and speed with 19 doubles, 25 home runs, 81 RBI, and 17 stolen bases in Double-A.
In Triple-A this year, Stone raised his play to another level. While in 2021, he played in 105 games, this year he has played only 103 games. During that time, he has hit .275/.332/.568/.900 with 22 doubles, 4 triples, 28 home runs, 95 RBI, 15 stolen bases, and 33 walks to 105 strikeouts.
Stone has had an issue with the strikeouts but that's usually the case for players that hit for a lot of power. That's been an issue for the past month, since July 15th, when he has struck out in 25 of his 105 plate appearances. He walked only 5 times. He hit .229/.267/.469 with 5 doubles and 6 home runs with 24 RBI. Granted every player goes through tough stretches, it was worrisome to see.
However, you can't deny the fact that Stone put in the work to get to the MLB this year. Even during that rough period, he still maintained his elite power potential. Due to his age, Stone didn't classify as a prospect, but if he were to be one, I'd have him ranked among the top 20 for the Diamondbacks due to his great power/speed combination. Stone has been a reliable outfielder on defense with good fielding ability.
In all of the minor leagues, Stone Garrett is 4th in home runs and 2nd in RBI. The Diamondbacks rank 15th in hitting against right-handed and left-handed pitchers which is higher than expected with the youth on the team. Yet, the team too often struggles against bullpen left-handed pitchers since the team will have three or four players batting from the left side in a row. You've seen how much Emmanuel Rivera has helped the lineup by batting right-handed.
Stone Garrett is Him.
— Reno Aces (@Aces) August 17, 2022
The PCL Leader in HR, RBI, and XBH heads to the show 💎@stonetx_ | @MiLB | @Dbacks pic.twitter.com/k1kT2gFDfF
The unfortunate news is that Seth Beer has been sent down due to his performance since being called up a few weeks ago. He has really struggled lately. The hope is that he can go back down, reset himself and improve. He has the ability as evidenced from April and his career numbers in Triple-A. Perhaps the off-season will bring him the time to relax and completely reset everything. Enter Spring Training with a refreshed ability and belief. It's always hard to make adjustments when you're struggling.
The Diamondbacks designated depth arm, Paul Fry, for assignment in order clear room on the 40-man roster for Stone Garrett.
Hopefully, Stone Garrett can provide some excitement and power to this lineup. If he can jumpstart it, even better. Congratulations to Stone Garrett who has worked his whole life for this moment. It's much deserved and can't wait to see him play in a Dbacks uniform. Let's go, Stone Garrett!