The Arizona Diamondbacks are turning to a veteran arm as injuries mount across their pitching staff. Anthony DeSclafani, a seasoned MLB right-hander, has signed a major league deal with Arizona after opting out of his minor league contract with the New York Yankees, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
Sherman took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to break the news.
“Anthony DeSclafani, who the Yankees recently took a minor league flyer on, has used an opt out and is going to the Diamondbacks.”
The move comes as the Arizona starting rotation continues to suffer from key injuries. Most notably, ace Corbin Burnes is out for the season with an elbow injury, and four bullpen arms were just placed on the injured list in the last week alone. The Diamondbacks, now 34-34, are scrambling to stay afloat in the National League West standings as they sit in fourth place.
DeSclafani, 35, brings experience to the table. He last pitched in the majors in 2023 before undergoing season-ending surgery for a flexor tendon injury. He returned to action in May for the Yankees’ top affiliate, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, posting a 4.50 ERA with 20 strikeouts in five starts. His final outing—six innings of one-run ball—showed flashes of his former form.
DeSclafani’s decision to exercise his opt-out clause is a standard move for veterans seeking big-league opportunities. With a 4.20 career ERA across 180 MLB appearances, he now has a legitimate chance to bolster the D-Backs’ injury-depleted rotation.
From 2014 to 2023, the right-hander built a solid big-league résumé with the Miami Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, and San Francisco Giants, consistently delivering as a reliable rotation arm. Then came 2024—a chaotic campaign marked by two trades and a season-altering injury. Now in Arizona, DeSclafani finds himself with a clean slate and a golden chance to reestablish his value on a D-Backs staff hungry for stability and looking for someone to seize the moment.
For a Diamondbacks team sitting at .500 and fourth in the NL West, 6.5 games behind the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers, DeSclafani’s addition provides much-needed depth and a potential spark for a rotation still searching for consistency.
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