nal controllable season of their superstar player."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Diamondbacks Farm TeamsGameday ThreadsDiamondbacks NewsDiamondbacks Game ReportsFang FoodLatest NewsDiamondbacks NewsDiamondbacks Opinion & AnalysisFirst glimpse of the return from the Paul Goldschmidt tradeNew Jake Arrieta Jersey ,50commentsDbacks choose to build for the future by trading the final controllable season of their superstar player. a dismal 2018 given his long track record of being an above-average hitter, but that’s not something to count on either given Avila’s batted ball profile and sudden increase in strikeouts.After being previously blocked by future Hall of Famer Yadier Molina, Kelly now has the opportunity to receive regular playing time in Arizona. Kelly has had 131 plate appearances at the MLB level with sporadic playing time, so I’m not putting much stock in his career .154/.227/.188 batting line in 131 plate appearances. In the last three years, he’s put up a .278/.373/.416 slash with solid strikeout and walk numbers in a 755 PA sample size. If he comes anywhere close to those numbers, that’s a major upgrade offensively to what the position produced in 2018. Kelly only has accumulated 162 days of service time despite multiple call-ups, so the Dbacks control him for the next 6 seasons, although he’ll be arbitration eligible for 4 of them. RHP Luke Weaver:The Diamondbacks also had a hole in their rotation with the team’s best pitcher in 2018 just signing a 6-year deal to joining the Washington Nationals. They had just inked Merrill Kelly last night from the KBO for $5.5M guaranteed. After this trade, the rotation projects to be Zack Greinke (if he’s not traded), Robbie Ray, Zack Godley, Kelly, and Luke Weaver on Opening Day 2019 with Taijuan Walker returning somewhere around the midpoint of the season. The team does have Taylor Clarke, Matt Koch, Jon Duplantier, and Taylor Widener, although each pitcher has their own issues. Duplantier and Widener need more seasoning in the minors while Clarke and Koch having lesser upside as a starting pitcher than Weaver.Weaver projected as a middle of the rotation arm as a prospect, but hasn’t found his footing at the MLB level. After flashing in small samples in 2016 and 2017, Weaver got hit hard in his first full season in 2018. That’s not too uncommon for some pitchers once the league gets another look at him, as Ray found out in 2016. Weaver has a 4-pitch mix: 4-seamer, cutter Nick Williams Jersey , curveball, and change-up. The 4-seamer is his primary pitch, as he throws it close to 60% of the time with the change-up as his primary secondary pitch and also the most effective. Despite the quality change-up (once graded as a potential 60 pitch as a prospect), Weaver has weaker platoon splits against LHH although most of his career numbers come from that dismal 2018 season. He also had a bit of a problem pitching in St. Louis with a career 5.34 ERA at Busch Stadium vs. a 4.25 ERA on the road, so a change in scenery could help him out. If Weaver is able to bounceback, the team controls him for 5 seasons and only 3 arbitration eligible seasons (will likely miss the Super Two cutoff by just a few days). INF Andy Young:Young was drafted in the 37th round after his senior year at Indiana State, but has made himself into a solid prospect. Young has a .281/.367/.462 slash in his minor league career, but the numbers are trending upward with a solid 2018 season. After a .276/.372/.444 mark in Class A-Advanced Palm Beach in 351 PA, he looked excellent after a promotion to AA Springfield with a .319/.395/.556 slash in 152 PA. Going from 2017 to 2018, his strikeout rate dropped from 22% to 17% while not hurting his walk rate or power numbers. After a successful 2018 season, the Cardinals sent him to the Arizona Fall League, where he shined the brightest with a .316/.421/.521 slash and 9 XBH (5 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR) and a 14/17 BB/K in 89 plate appearances.On my rankings list, Young slides in ahead of Pavin Smith for the #8 spot given that he has some success at the AA level. Over the last two seasons, he’s hit 38 home runs and 78 XBH (33 2B, 7 3B) in 973 PA, so there is some power upside along with a decent walk rate. Defensively he’s likely limited to 2B, where he’s played the bulk of his career. Given that the team doesn’t have a 2B waiting in the wings with Domingo Leyba’s prospect shine fading, that’s not necessarily a bad thing for the long term future of the team. Young likely will head for AA Jackson to start the 2019 season with a potential promotion to AAA Reno if things go well there and could appear in a Diamondbacks uniform as early as the 2020 season. Conclusion:The team filled two major holes on their team after two of their free agents signed with other teams and added a prospect with solid upside in the future on the infield. The team was in the position where they had to either extend or trade Goldy with the team unlikely to contend in 2019 barring some unforeseen circumstance. On top of that, the team will receive the 78th pick of the 2019 draft Tyler Glasnow Jersey , giving them 6 picks in the first day of the draft (Own 1st, 26, Corbin Comp Pick, Own 2nd, Own CBB, STL CBB) and likely 6 if A.J. Pollock signs with another team for more than $50M, which is a number the Diamondbacks should offer to Pollock to ensure they at least get the draft pick or the player. It’s the type of move that sucks for fans given that Goldy was the face of the franchise, but a move they needed to make in order because letting Goldschmidt walk for only a Top 40 pick just to play him on a non-contending team is a bigger mistake. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash keeps getting the most from his pitching staff.Cash moved reliever Adam Kolarek from the mound to first base and back to the mound in a piece of matchup strategy Sunday, and the Rays wound up with a 3-0 win over the San Francisco Giants.Yandy Diaz homered on the second pitch of the game and Yonny Chirinos (2-0) threw five scoreless innings. The Rays have opened the season with three straight series wins for the first time in franchise history.Cash kept things in constant motion throughout the game, using four outfielders at times and constantly shifting his infielders. But his boldest move came in the seventh.Kolarek pitched a perfect sixth inning to protect a 2-0 lead. The left-hander gave up a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Yangervis Solarte, then shifted over to play first base — it was his first time in the majors at a position other than pitcher, and allowed the Rays to bring in right-hander reliever Chaz Roe.Roe struck out righty-hitting Evan Longoria and exited. Kolarek returned to the mound, struck out lefty-swinging Brandon Belt, gave up another single and was replaced for good by Diego Castillo.“The way their lineup was today, with Longo sitting in the middle of a bunch of tough lefty hitters, the thought kind of came into my mind when (Kolarek) got into the game knowing that our pitching was a little tight,” Cash said. “Kolarek might have been stunned, but I’m glad it worked out. I’m really happy that Longo decided not to hit a line drive or ground ball over there.”Cash said he had made such switches twice last summer, once moving a pitcher to third base for an out and other time to first base.Kolarek, who said he sometimes played first base while pitching at the University of Maryland, said he uses an extra-large glove Adam Frazier Jersey , so did not switch when he went to first base.“When Cash extended his hand for the ball, I handed it to him and started walking toward the dugout. He said, ‘Hold up, go play first,'” Kolarek said. “You have to be ready for anything around here. It’s probably the coolest thing that’s happened to me on a major league field.”Cash used relief pitchers as starters for an inning or two last year with great success.Chirinos made his second strong appearance this season, allowing two hits and a walk and striking out five. On March 31 versus Houston, he gave up one run on two hits in seven innings.Drew Pomeranz (0-1) lasted four innings, permitting two runs on six hits, walking three and striking out five. But the Giants provided no offensive support, managing five hits, all singles.“You’ve got to find a find to get some runs,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “We need to get some early runs, that’s been one of our issues, to take some pressure off our pitchers.”The Rays’ other runs came on Christian Arroyo’s RBI single in the fourth and when Kevin Kiermaier tripled in the eighth and scored on a balk.TRAINER’S ROOMRays: Cash said INF Joey Wendle, who has been on the 10-day disabled list since April 1, won’t be ready to play for a few days even after he’s eligible to come off the DL on April 11.Giants: RHP Johnny Cueto is eligible to come off the 60-day disabled list on April 14 after having Tommy John surgery last year. … C Buster Posey got a rest day on Sunday.UP NEXTRays: LHP Blake Snell (1-1, 3.46) takes the mound as the Rays continue their nine-game road trip at the Chicago White Sox.Giants: LHP Madison Bumgarner (0-2, 1.38) pitches against San Diego as San Francisco plays the fourth game of its 10-game homestand. Bumgarner is 1-5 in his last eight starts against the Padres.PHAM’S STREAKWith his first-inning single, Tommy Pham has now reached base in 42 straight games, extending the longest streak in Tampa Bay history. It is the longest streak in the majors since Houston’s Alex Bregman had a similar 42-game streak last year.