Connect with us

Arizona

Arizona Diamondbacks 2024 Player Review: Luis Frías

Published

on

Arizona Diamondbacks 2024 Player Review: Luis Frías


This article is part of a series chronicling the individual seasons of players that appeared for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2024.

Reviews for players that still have rookie eligibility for 2025 will appear in our prospect season reviews. Players are presented in the reverse order of their aWAR, an average of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs WAR.

2024 Contract Status: Pre-Arbitration, $748,300, prorated to $48,276 for time on MLB roster

Luis Frias 2024 and career statistics

Luis Frias 2024 and career statistics / Alex D’Agostino | Diamondbacks On SI

As the Diamondbacks’ bullpen settled into their roles in the 2023 season, hard-throwing righty Luis Frias was one of the relievers on the bubble.

Advertisement

While he had looked to be developing a bit in 2023, pitching to a serviceable (if not spectacular) 4.06 ERA over 31.0 innings, he never really had the chance to show his potential in 2024.

He made just seven appearances for the D-backs this season, giving up runs in four of them. On April 16, he surrendered a walk and two hits, leading to three earned runs without recording an out against the Chicago Cubs.

That resulted in a 9.95 ERA with the D-backs, although his 4.90 FIP suggested he was pitching somewhat better than his raw results, though not to a level that would be considered above average.

While it was a small sample size, Frias did not pitch well in that stretch. His command was sub-par, rendering his 96 MPH fastball somewhat useless. On April 17, one day after his blowup outing, he landed on the 15-day Injured List with right shoulder inflammation.

Once recovered, Arizona optioned the reliever to Triple-A Reno. His first month with the Aces was disastrous, as he pitched to a 7.94 ERA in the hitter-friendly PCL. But July was a complete 180, as he threw to a 2.53 ERA over nine games, allowing three total runs while striking out 11.

Advertisement

Despite that good stretch, the D-backs designated him for assignment on August 8. Two days later, he was claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays, and sent to their Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons. He made eight appearances with for the Buffalos, allowing only a single unearned run.

On September 6, he was called up by the Blue Jays. Unfortunately, it was an immediate disaster. His first outing with Toronto saw him surrender five hits and four earned runs while only recording one out.

He made three more appearances before being sent back to Triple-A. The righty gave up eight earned runs over 3.1 innings for the Blue Jays.

Ultimately, it was a disappointing regression for the 26-year-old righty. While his velocity and stuff has high potential, he wasn’t able to put it together with his command, and his numbers were poor across the board.

2025 Contract Status: Pre-arbitration, $760,000 with Blue Jays if on MLB roster

Advertisement

There should be little chance the D-backs consider a return for Frias. The young righty has struggled for the most part in his developmental period with Arizona, and seems to be struggling even harder with Toronto.

There remains plenty of raw potential, and the Blue Jays could very well see him turn into a serviceable reliever, but his time with the D-backs’ organization is likely done, at least for the foreseeable future.



Source link

Arizona

HIGHLIGHTS: Rams WR Puka Nacua with a one-handed touchdown catch against the Cardinals

Published

on

HIGHLIGHTS: Rams WR Puka Nacua with a one-handed touchdown catch against the Cardinals


On today’s Digital Pregame Show presented by Little Caesars, J.B Long, D’Marco Farr, and Maurice Jones-Drew preview the Los Angeles Rams’ Week 18 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium. The trio discuss key players to watch, game predictions, and more. Tune in for kickoff at 1:25pm PT on FOX.



Source link

Continue Reading

Arizona

QB Cutter Boley lands with ASU after Kentucky transfer

Published

on

QB Cutter Boley lands with ASU after Kentucky transfer


Arizona State is bringing in Kentucky transfer quarterback Cutter Boley after he played 10 full games as a redshirt freshman in 2025, FootballScoop’s John Brice first reported with SunDevilSource’s Chris Karpman confirming.

He gives the Sun Devils a signal-caller with three years of eligibility who had major flashes as a young starter in the SEC, including a career-high 330 yards and five touchdown passes on 74.3% passing against Tennessee on Oct. 25.

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Boley had 2,160 yards (65.8%), 15 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions on the season with 85 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.

He was expected to take a two-day visit beginning on Saturday, but he committed before getting to the second day.

Advertisement

ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham extended an offer to Boley as a high school junior while he was the 24th quarterback in the 2024 class and the coach was serving as offensive coordinator at Oregon.

Dillingham took more of an active role in the offense during the Sun Bowl on Wednesday, and he said postgame recent changes in administration have allowed him to focus more on football. It would make sense the active role carries over to the development of Boley.

He gets to ASU after the departure of Sam Leavitt, who has fittingly been linked to Kentucky in what could be a 1-for-1 transfer swap of quarterbacks.

More about ASU transfer QB addition Cutter Boley

The youngest SEC quarterback to get substantial time this season, Boley played mostly as a game manager with quick passes behind or near the line of scrimmage.

His six big-time throws — tracked by PFF as passes with “excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tight window” — were tied for last among 15 qualified SEC passers.

Advertisement

His 18 turnover-worthy plays, another PFF-tracked stat, were tied for fourth out of 15.

Comparing the stats to ASU’s quarterbacks this season, Leavitt had 18 big-time throws and 12 turnover-worthy plays in seven games. Jeff Sims had eight big-time throws and nine turnover-worthy plays in eight contests.

Because he has three years of eligibility remaining, Boley could eventually have to compete with young ASU quarterbacks Cam Dyer and Jake Fette, who will be redshirt and true freshmen, respectively, in 2026.




Source link

Continue Reading

Arizona

Arizona men’s basketball cruises to win at Utah in Big 12 opener

Published

on

Arizona men’s basketball cruises to win at Utah in Big 12 opener


Weird things have happened to Arizona in Salt Lake City in recent years. In 2022, an unbeaten Wildcats squad fresh off a dominant performance at the Maui Invitational laid an egg against Utah, and two years later the UA needed triple overtime to get past the Utes.

No such drama this time around.

Top-ranked Arizona jumped out to a 17-point lead before the second media timeout and then coasted to a 97-78 win at Utah on Saturday afternoon to open Big 12 play.

The Wildcats (14-0, 1-0) saw their streak of wins by at least 20 points end at eight, tying the school record set in 1928-29. But the victory was no less dominant than the previous seven, with the UA shooting 53.6 percent, finishing plus-13 on the boards and again getting five scorers in double figures.

Advertisement

Tobe Awaka and Jaden Bradley led the way with 18 points apiece, Awaka going 6 of 7 from the field and 2 for 2 from 3 while adding 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Bradley was 7 of 11 from the field and added five assists.

Brayden Burries and Koa Peat each scored 17 and Ivan Kharchenkov added 13 for Arizona, which scored in the 90s for the 10th time this season including eight of the last nine games.

Utah (8-6, 0-1) got 26 points from Terrence Brown and 15 each from Keanu Dawes and Don McHenry but shot 44.3 percent overall and just 5 of 17 from 3. The Utes turned it over 12 times, leading to 18 points for the Wildcats, who had 11 steals for their seventh game with at least 10 swipes.

The UA led 58-39 at halftime, its most points in the first half of a conference game since dropping 63 on ASU in 1998. That offensive explosion did not immediately carry over to the second half, though, as Arizona didn’t make its first post-halftime field goal until 17:06 left.

But then things went back to normal, with an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 70-46 with 13:56 to go. Utah followed with a 12-3 run to get within 15 but that was the closest it would get.

Advertisement

The only real drama down the stretch was if Arizona would again win by 20. It led by 21 after a Burries basket with 51 seconds remaining but Bradley fouled Utah’s Brown with 49.8 seconds to go in order to let backups come in and Brown made two free throws.

Utah scored the game’s opening basket and then Arizona followed with 14 in a row, which included a few baskets off Ute turnovers. Six of those points were byKharchenkov, who scored twice off steals.

The rout appeared to be on early, withAwakanailing a 3 to put the Wildcats up 27-10 with 12:16 left in the first half. But the UA went three minutes without a field goal, allowing Utah to cut the deficit to single digits.

A second-chance 3 by Brown got the Utes within 34-26 with 7:49 left in the half. But Arizona righted the ship on both ends, using a 10-0 run (with another Awaka 3) to build a 46-28 advantage. The Wildcats made their final six shots before the break, shooting 61.1 percent overall in the first half.

The UA plays its Big 12 home opener Wednesday against Kansas State. K-State (9-5, 0-1) fell 83-73 at home to No. 10 BYU on Saturday.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending