Arizona Diamondbacks 2024 Player Review: Brandon Hughes

The Diamondbacks signed left-handed reliever Brandon Hughes to a minor league deal ahead of 2024 Spring Training. The 28-year-old Hughes had put forward an excellent season with the Chicago Cubs back in 2022, but had battled a knee injury and struggled in 2023.

He didn't make Arizona's Opening Day roster, but pitched to an excellent 1.84 ERA over 10 April appearances with the Triple-A Reno Aces.

On April 29, he was called up to the majors, in what became a historically unique day for both he and the Diamondbacks.

On April 30, left-handr Jordan Montgomery had been scheduled to start Arizona's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field. But a bizarre occurence of a swarm of bees behind home plate sent the game into a lengthy delay.

The "Bee Game," as it came to be known, was a blip on MLB's radar. But for Hughes, it was a career opportunity.

When a game sees a long delay, team's will often scratch their starting pitchers to avoid the starter warming up, only to sit cold and needing to warm up a second time. This can lead to increased injury risk.

So the D-backs went with a bullpen game, and Hughes became the starter, less than 24 hours after arriving in Phoenix. He tossed a scoreless first inning against some of the top hitters in baseball, and Arizona would ultimately walk it off in extra innings.

I wrote about Hughes' journey to his improbable first career start here.

But the rest of the season wasn't quite as storybook for the lefty. Over 15 games, he pitched to an ugly 8.15 ERA over five different trips to and from Reno.

His ERA doesn't tell the whole story of his use, as he mainly provided length in mop-up situations, frequently coming in after a poor, short day from the starting pitcher, pitching more than one inning in seven of his 15 outings.

He was blown up for three or more runs four times. That, coupled with just a 17.2-inning sample size, painted an ugly picture of his season as a whole. But outside of those four outings, nine of his 11 other appearances were scoreless.

That said, his peripherals do back up his poor ERA. Hughes walked 5.09 batters per nine, and was bit by the long ball frequently due to location mistakes - giving up 4.08 homers per nine.

Overall, he delivered a decent amount of solidity to the D-backs' bullpen, though he was optioned and recalled many times throughout the season.

After spending time in Reno from August 2 to September 13, he was called up one more time on September 14. He made three appearances, going 3.2 innings and allowing just one hit and no runs in September.

2025 Outlook

For the moment, Hughes remains on the D-backs' active roster. He made just $167,076 with the club in 2024, and is still pre-arbitration. With his 2.03 ERA in Triple-A, it's not unlikely he remains with the organization, although it doesn't appear likely he'll be an impact arm on the major league club.

He has a history of success, and a good portion of his issues have been situational or injury-related, but he'll need to show more consistency in his outings if he wants to stay with the Diamondbacks for long.