Arizona Diamondbacks: Zac Gallen Excelling in the Desert
The Arizona Diamondbacks were one of the more active teams at the trade deadline and a few of those acquisitions, namely Zac Gallen, are getting valuable major league experience.
At the trade deadline, the Arizona Diamondbacks made several trades and acquired several high valuable prospects. One of these prospects made his major league debut with the Miami Marlins, Zac Gallen. He came over in the trade which saw the D-backs give up the No. 1 draft pick in Jazz Chisholm.
Gallen to this point has exceeded expectations. Before coming over to Arizona he was 1-3 with a 2.72 ERA with 43 strikeouts in 36 1/3 innings over 7 starts. With the Diamondbacks, he is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 15 innings over 3 starts.
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This brings his season numbers to 2-3 with a 2.45 ERA. He does need to work on walking batters, but if this short sample size is any indication, he will be a great starting pitcher next season for the Diamondbacks to pair with Robbie Ray.
The other prospect receiving playing time is Josh Rojas. He came over from the Houston Astros in the Zack Greinke trade and was the No. 22 ranked prospect in Houston.
He hasn’t had a ton of time in the big leagues, making his debut back on August 12th, playing in nine games to this point. He is slashing .231/.310/.269 so far at the Major League level.
Now I know that isn’t super impressive, but the way he was playing in AAA in Reno, the Diamondbacks didn’t have any choice but to call him up. He was slashing .514/.575/.943 in 8 games with 3 home runs and 14 RBI’s.
The great thing about the timing is both of these players are getting valuable experience while the Arizona Diamondbacks are still in the running for a Wild Card spot. They are only 4 1/2 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the 2nd spot.
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All of this experience sets both Zac Gallen and Josh Rojas up to be major cornerstones for the D-backs in the years to come.