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The Arizona Diamondbacks are getting some help where they desperately need it — and it’s costing third baseman Mark Reynolds his job.
According to Arizona Republic sports reporter Nick Piecoro, the D-Backs have agreed to trade Reynolds to the Baltimore Orioles for two young relief pitchers, David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio.
Hopefully, the move will do a bit to improve the team’s horrendous bullpen, which, last year, was the worst in Major League baseball.
At the very least, ditching Reynolds should help the team’s record strike-out total — last year, he tallied 211 strikeouts, 32 home runs, and a .198 batting average.
As for the new additions to the bullpen, they couldn’t be much worse than what the team was dealing with all of last season.
In 79 1/3 innings last year, Hernandez had a 4.31 ERA. In 33 games as a reliever, he earned a 3.16 ERA.
According to Piecoro, when coming out of the bullpen, his stuff can reach the mid-90s.
As for Mickolio, he seems like he’d fit right in with the bums currently stinking up the D-Backs’ bullpen.
Last season, he had 6.37 ERA in 30 games for Triple-A Norfolk. However, Mickolio fared a little better in the Arizona Fall League this year, giving up just one run in 12 innings, striking out 18, and walking two. His fastball can also hit the mid-to-upper 90s.
Who knows how he’ll do in the big leagues, but, again, the D-Backs’ bullpen couldn’t get much worse.
