Last season 31-year old Chad Qualls and 26-year old righty Juan Gutierrez were solid performing late in games but this season they have both stunk it up. Qualls has pitched in 28 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs this year and he is 1-3 with 12 saves, a 8.46 ERA and a 2.19 WHIP. He has given up 39 hits and walked 10 batters in only 22 1/3 innings this year as he has been truly awful. Juan Gutierrez replaced Qualls as the closer last season when he injured himself but the D-Backs won’t let him anywhere near the 9th inning this year. He has pitched in 23 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs this year and he is 0-5 with 1 save, a 9.28 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP. Gutierrez has given up 27 hits (10 homers) and he has walked 10 batters in only 21 1/3 innings so far this year. It’s time for the Diamondbacks to give 31-year old righty Aaron Heilman a job that he has always wanted and let him close. He has been by far the best pitcher in the D-Backs’ pen this season working in 29 games (0 starts) in which he is 2-1 with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP.

The Diamondbacks have designated 32-year old righty reliever Saul Rivera for assignment. Rivera pitched in 4 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs this year and he was 0-0 with a 22.09 ERA and a 3.82 WHIP. He gave up a stunning 11 hits (2 homers) in only 3 2/3 innings for the Diamondbacks which is downright pathetic. He deserved to be let loose and the D-Backs won’t miss him one bit.

UPDATE: (8/2/2010) - The D-Backs have released Rivera.

Righty swinging SS Jay Bell had a solid five years with the Diamondbacks. He put up a monster season in 1999 earning a trip to the All-Star game for the D-Backs. In 1999, Bell played in 151 games for the D-Backs in which he was 170 of 589 (.289 avg, .931 OPS) with 132 runs scored, 38 homers, 112 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. That was a career year as Bell never came close to putting up those type of numbers again in his career. Bell played in 616 games in his time with the D-Backs and he was 573 of 2,180 (.263 avg, .812 OPS) with 360 runs scored, 91 homers, 304 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. Bell is #6 in D-Backs’ history in games played (616). He is also #7 in hits (573), #5 in OPS (.812), #4 in runs scored (360), #5 in homers (91), #5 in RBIs (304), #6 in doubles (116), tied for 7th in triples with Justin Upton (18) and he’s #3 in walks (303). Bell might not be in the record books long with those career totals as the D-Backs have a long of young players that they plan to build around. Still, Bell was a very solid player for the D-Backs.

23-year old lefty swinging outfielder Gerardo Parra is off to a blazing start in AAA. Many were wondering if Parra was going to mope when he got demoted but he hasn’t. Parra has played in 9 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 15 of 36 (.417 avg, 1.073 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 1 homer, 7 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He played in 37 games earlier this year for the Diamondbacks in which he was 22 of 94 (.234 avg, .584 OPS) with 5 runs scored and 7 RBIs. I have a feeling that the D-Backs won’t be able to keep Parra in the minors much longer if he keeps hitting like he is in the minors.

The Diamondbacks have acquired 28-year old lefty starting pitcher Dontrelle Willis from the Tigers. It’s not known yet what the Tigers will get back from the D-Backs. Willis has pitched in 9 games (8 starts) this season for the Tigers and he was 1-2 with a 4.98 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. He has now pitched in 186 games (184 starts) in his major league career and he is 70-62 with a 4.06 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. Maybe a return to the N.L. is just what the doctor ordered to get the D-Train’s career back on course. In his five years with the Marlins, Willis pitched in 162 games (all starts) in which he was 68-54 with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. Willis is also a good hitter for a pitcher as he goes up to the plate to swing for the fences. He is 82 of 354 (.232 avg, .634 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 8 homers and 35 RBIs so don’t go to the bathroom when he comes up to the plate. This was a excellent risk for the D-Backs to take to round out the starting rotation as the D-Train is only 28 years old.

UPDATE: (6/1/2010) - The D-Backs have acquired a large sum of cash in this deal in return for 26-year old righty starting pitcher Billy Buckner. Buckner started 3 games for the D-Backs this year and he was 0-3 with a 11.08 ERA and a 2.39 WHIP. He pitched in 29 games (16 starts) in his three years with the D-Backs and he was 6-11 with a 6.25 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. The D-Backs shouldn’t miss Buckner too much….if at all as he didn’t pitch too well for them the last three years.