The Diamondbacks have made a roster move ahead of their Friday night clash against the Philadelphia Phillies. The team announced on X that right-hander Scott McGough has been recalled from Triple-A Reno while right-hander Slade Cecconi has been optioned to Triple-A.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Today's #Dbacks roster moves. pic.twitter.com/ioLew3vd0F
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 9, 2024
Slade Cecconi threw 52 pitches in a three-inning relief appearance Thursday night, likely knocking him down for three days. Instead they’ve elected to call up a fresh arm, even a struggling one such as McGough. In 22 appearances, McGough has a 7.33 ERA with 20 strikeouts and 18 walks in 27 innings. He has spent much of the season in Triple-A Reno.
This also likely means that Merrill Kelly will return from the injured list for Sunday’s series finale. The team will need to make a 40-man roster move to make space, with McGough being a potential DFA candidate. If that is indeed the case, then it makes sense to extract as many innings from him as possible.
Arizona’s bullpen has been taxed with having to cover six innings across two games, which is why Cecconi finished out Thursday’s game when the Diamondbacks failed to come back against the Phillies. While he allowed two tack-on runs that cemented their deficit, it saved the rest of their bullpen to be available for the remaining three games of the series.
While on an optional assignment, Cecconi cannot be recalled to the 26-man roster until August 24.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Cardinals, and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
