Former Red Sox Hurler Inks Deal With Diamondbacks After Difficult 2021 Season

The Arizona Diamondbacks made a move Thursday to try to shore up their shaky bullpen.

Arizona -- like the Boston Red Sox -- didn't feature a strong bullpen in 2022. Boston had the fifth-worst bullpen in Major League Baseball with an ERA of 4.59 and the Diamondbacks weren't with the sixth-worst bullpen with an ERA of 4.58.

The Red Sox have been busy and have made two intriguing moves to bolster their bullpen with the most recent being signing right-handed reliever Chris Martin to a two-year $17.5 million deal Friday night. 

Arizona hasn't made a move on the same level as a reliever like Martin, but did make an intriguing move Thursday that could pay off. The Diamondbacks inked former Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirate Austin Brice to a minor league deal. 

Brice spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons in Boston and over that span appeared in 34 games and compiled an ERA of 6.21. The right-handed pitcher appeared in just four games with the Pirates in 2022 due to injuries and bouncing back and forth between the MLB and minor leagues. 

While his numbers certainly don't jump off the page, in 2019 he appeared in 36 games for the Miami Marlins and put together an ERA of 3.43 in 44 2/3 innings pitched. 

Brice may not be the spiciest name on the market, but he's a low risk and high reward type player. If he's able to recapture what he was able to do in 2019 or even close to it, he could be a very nice piece for an improving Diamondbacks bullpen.