Cron, López rejoin D-backs' active roster
The D-backs shuffled their roster a bit Monday, recalling infielder Kevin Cron and right-handed reliever Yoan López from their alternate training site and optioning infielder/outfielder Andy Young and right-hander Joel Payamps there.
Cron and López both opened the season on Arizona’s active roster. Cron was optioned a week into the season after going 0-for-4 with a walk and a pair of strikeouts. López, meanwhile, was optioned on Aug. 6, when the team was required to cut its roster from 30 to 28. In five appearances, López had a 4.15 ERA.
The demotion of Young is somewhat surprising, given that he had a slash line of .286/.444/.571 in his first 18 plate appearances, which included three walks.
Cron’s tremendous power, it seems, was an important part of the decision. Cron hit 38 homers in 374 plate appearances for Triple-A Reno last year and another six in 78 plate appearances with the D-backs.
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“Andy Young has done a really good job of controlling the zone and was having some quality at-bats,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “And it was nice to see what he can do. It was a hard send-out; it was a hard decision. But in Cron’s case, he adds a little something to the lineup. He adds the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark and help put up some crooked numbers, help score some runs and, ultimately, win some games.
“I was looking to add as much punch and give us the ability to score as many runs as possible, and we feel Kevin will help us do that.”
Payamps, who was recalled Sunday when right-hander Jeremy Beasley was placed on the injured list, did not see any action.
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Bumgarner update
Left-hander Madison Bumgarner, who is on the injured list with a mid-back strain, threw 46 pitches in a simulated game Monday.
“I didn’t get a chance to watch him, but from all indications it went extremely well,” Lovullo said. “He’s exactly where we thought he would be. We’ll see what the next steps are. We’ll see how he recovers.”
When Bumgarner was placed on the injured list Aug. 10, the team indicated he was likely to miss two starts. The first one was Saturday and his next turn would have come this Thursday at Oakland.