{"id":27895,"date":"2020-01-09T22:11:56","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T03:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=27895"},"modified":"2024-12-28T10:32:37","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T15:32:37","slug":"hector-rondon-signs-arizona-diamondbacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2020\/01\/09\/hector-rondon-signs-arizona-diamondbacks\/","title":{"rendered":"H\u00e9ctor Rond\u00f3n Signs with Arizona Diamondbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

H\u00e9ctor Rond\u00f3n Signs with Arizona Diamondbacks<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> have come to terms with right handed relief pitcher H\u00e9ctor Rond\u00f3n<\/a><\/strong>. It’s a one-year, $3 million contract with a club option for 2021.\u00a0 If they decide to pick up the option and keep him for 2021, he could make up to $5 million with incentives for the second year.<\/p>\n

H\u00e9ctor Rond\u00f3n Addresses Bullpen Need<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Diamondbacks will use the 26th man as an additional bullpen arm. They did sign Junior Guerra<\/a><\/strong> in December to a one-year deal but needed to add another power arm for late inning help. Look for Rond\u00f3n to be paired with left-hander Andrew Chafin<\/a><\/strong> as set-up guys to Archie Bradley<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In seven seasons with the Chicago Cubs<\/a> and Houston Astros<\/a>, Rond\u00f3n has 92 saves and a 3.29 ERA with 418 strikeouts in 421 games. He is one of only three pitchers who have at least 50 appearances and issued 20 or fewer walks the past six seasons.<\/p>\n

Pitch Selection<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Rond\u00f3n relies primarily on a four-seam fastball and a slider. His fastball is still comes in the mid-to-upper 90 mph range. His slider produces a lot of fly balls. He will need to adjust that pitch since he will be pitching at Chase Field. He has mixed in a change-up and that pitch has generated a fair number of ground balls. We expect him to use that more for the 2020 season.<\/p>\n

Role with the Team and Outlook<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We will have to see whether the team will use him as the closer. The past three years they have brought in Fernando Rodney<\/a><\/strong>, Brad Boxberger<\/a><\/strong>, and Greg Holland<\/a><\/strong>. All of them have moved on. Archie Bradley was the closer at the end of the season in 2019 but has not officially been named closer, and as we know, manager Torey Lovullo<\/a><\/strong> likes Spring Training competition.<\/p>\n

He comes from the successful Astros teams of 2018 and 2019 and was part of the World Series Champion Chicago Cubs in 2016. The Diamondbacks could use that experience as they make a run at a playoff spot in 2020.<\/p>\n

Main Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>