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D-backs notes: Webster optioned, Hernandez near debut
PHOENIX -- Pitcher Allen Webster's first assignment with the Arizona Diamondbacks is over after four starts, even though manager Chip Hale must now fill one more start before Patrick Corbin rejoins the team off his rehab assignment in the minors.
The team optioned Webster to Triple-A Reno, then recalled reliever Matt Stites.
Stites will bring more depth to the Arizona bullpen. He has been Reno's closer, pitching nine innings in nine games and allowing three earned runs.
Webster was scheduled to start on the Fourth of July against the Rockies, and Hale wasn't ready to reveal the one-game replacement.
"We have some choices," he said. "As of right now, everybody's in the mix."
Josh Collmenter, who recently lost his starting job, is stretched out enough to make the start. If the team decides to make a call to the minors, Reno pitcher Aaron Blair could be a candidate. Since being promoted from Double-A Mobile, he's gone 16 2/3 innings in three starts and allowed only three earned runs. However, the D-backs might want to keep the 23-year-old on his current trajectory of development, Hale said.
As for Webster's next move, Hale wants the right-hander to iron out pitch location issues after leaving them up in the zone ever since his first start, a 4-2 win at San Francisco on June 13.
"He had the Giants baffled over in San Francisco with that sinker, but he was locating that that day," Hale said. "It's flattened out. The breaking ball's the big thing, though. After a while, big-league hitters sit on one pitch, it's easy to hit them."
Webster went 1-1 with a 7.11 ERA in four starts, and Arizona won three of those games. In Monday night's 10-6 win over the Dodgers, Webster allowed four earned runs and three solo home runs before leaving after 3 2/3 innings.
"I didn't have my stuff, I didn't have my command I'd like to have," Webster said after the game. "It's just my fastball consistency, I throw good ones, I throw bad ones."
Hernandez on deck
Catcher Oscar Hernandez, a Rule 5 draft pick, is expected to be activated from the disabled list this weekend, according to Hale. Hernandez underwent hamate bone surgery on his hand during the spring, and the team will need to open a roster spot.
The 21-year-old is 4 for 15 in five games with Reno.
Reed works on the split
Optioning Addison Reed to Triple-A Reno will allow him to work on location, but the D-backs also want him to work on a split-finger fastball that could complement his arsenal against left-handed hitters, Hale said.
"He threw a couple splits, it looked good," said Hale, who has watched video of Reed. "He had good velocity, better velocity there than he did here. For me, he has to be here for us to be as good a team that we think we can be."
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