Kade

Strowd

Strowd heads back to the minors without making an appearance after being called up last Friday. He made one relief appearance for Arizona back in June.

The Diamondbacks wanted to add a fresh arm to their bullpen for Friday’s series opener against the Dodgers, and it’s Strowd that gets the call. The 28-year-old right-hander has made just one appearance with the D’Backs this season, allowing one run on a hit and three walks in his lone inning of work. Kohl Drake was optioned to Triple-A Reno in a corresponding move.

The big surprise here is that Strowd checked out fine after being lifted from Friday’s game against the Nationals because he couldn’t feel the baseball or throw it where he wanted to, according to Arizona manager Torey Lovullo. Clearly, those comments were performance-related. The 28-year-old walked three batters and allowed one run during his lone inning of work.

Strowd was making his first appearance since being called up Thursday. It sounds like he’s destined for the IL, which might give Yilber Díaz a shot.

Strowd had a 1.71 ERA in 25 games with the Orioles last year, but was at a 4.95 ERA in 20 appearances with (admittedly a hitting environment) Reno, walking 16 in 20 innings with a 1.80 WHIP. He’ll likely have a low-leverage role for the time being.

The 28-year-old hurler had been expected to crack the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day bullpen but he struggled to a 10.57 ERA and 2.09 WHIP over 7 2/3 innings during Cactus League competition which may have caused the Diamondbacks to reassess. He’ll attempt to get back on track at the Triple-A level to start the season.

Despite strong strikeout rates, Strowd’s track record as a minor league reliever is pretty bad. However, he did muster a 1.71 ERA in 26 1/3 innings for the Orioles as a rookie last season. Strowd works at 94-98 mph with his fastball, but his low-90s cutter is his best pitch, making him about as effective against lefties as righties. He doesn’t project especially well going forward, but in a wide open Arizona pen, pretty much anyone who gets off to a good start could wind up closing for a time.

Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic notes that the Diamondbacks will receive Kade Strowd, Wellington Aracena and Jose Mejia in return for the versatile 26-year-old. Alexander has shown intriguing power potential in his limited big league work, but his paths to a full-time job were blocked in Arizona. They don’t appear to be much better in Baltimore as he’ll likely function in a utility role to open the season. If he does find full-time at-bats though, he could be an intriguing late-round option for fantasy purposes.

With Felix Bautista landing on the IL, it will be Strowd taking his place in the bullpen. The 27-year-old has a 4.15 ERA with three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings out of the bullpen for Baltimore this season.

Strowd’s latest stint with the Orioles lasted roughly 48 hours over a two-game span. The 27-year-old righty has done a serviceable job this season in three relief appearances for Baltimore at the highest level.