The Diamondbacks announced a series of roster moves this afternoon, headlined by them selecting the contract of right-hander Scott McGough. Right-hander Yilber Diaz was optioned to the minors in a corresponding move, and righty J.P. Feyereisen was designated for assignment to make room for McGough on the 40-man roster.
McGough, 35, was a fifth-round pick by the Dodgers in 2011 who debuted in the majors with the Marlins back in 2015. He made just six appearances for Miami before spending the following years bouncing around the minor leagues with Colorado and Baltimore until he departed stateside ball entirely ahead of his age-29 season to pitch for Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yakult Swallows. He put together a very impressive resume in four seasons as the Swallows’ closer, with a 2.94 ERA in 232 2/3 innings of work and a 26.0% strikeout rate.
That performance was enough to get him stateside attention from Arizona, and McGough departed Japan to sign with the Diamondbacks prior to the 2023 season for $6.25MM guaranteed over two years. That decision proved to be a mistake for the Snakes. McGough was a below average but relatively passable middle reliever for Arizona in his first year with the club, posting a 4.73 ERA (93 ERA+) and a matching 4.76 FIP across 70 1/3 innings of work for the team. While he struck out a solid 25.6% of his opponents, McGough was held back by a 10% walk rate and troubles with the long ball as a whopping 24.6% of his fly balls left the yard for home runs.
That poor fortune led to some advanced metrics like his 3.49 SIERA pointing to better days ahead, but things got even worse in 2024 when his peripherals collapsed across the board. The righty’s age-34 season saw him post a 16.7% strikeout rate against a 14% walk rate, leaving him with a ghastly 7.44 ERA and a 6.04 FIP across his 26 appearances. The Diamondbacks made the easy decision to decline a 2025 club option on his services last winter, though they eventually re-signed him to a minor league deal in April. Now, he’ll be tabbed to help eat innings for a Diamondbacks bullpen that has surrendered a 4.69 ERA and recently lost one of its top relievers, A.J. Puk, to the injured list.
More to come.
