PHOENIX -- The Diamondbacks added right-hander Bo Schultz and outfielder Ender Inciarte to their 40-man roster at the Wednesday deadline, making room by designating left-hander Tony Sipp for assignment a year after acquiring him to add another lefty to the bullpen. Schultz's fastball was timed at 100 mph several times a Class AA Mobile last season. Sipp was acquired in the three-way trade last winter that also brought Didi Gregorius in a package that sent Trevor Bauer to Cleveland, and he was expected to work as situational specialist. Sipp never adjusted to the role, however, going 3-2 with a 4.78 ERA in 56 appearances. Most troubling was his 22 walks in 37 2-3 innings, and he still had trouble with location even after a short stint at Class AAA Reno to work on the problem. With Sipp's departure, the D-backs will open the season two healthy left-handed relievers on the roster, Joe Thatcher and Eury De La Rosa, barring a trade. Matt Reynolds, who had a 1.98 in 30 games out of the bullpen last season, is expected to miss most if not all of the 2014 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September. The D-backs are expected to address both the starting rotation and the bullpen this offseason. Schultz, who turned 28 in September, is the D-backs' most intriguing addition. Schultz did not pitch until his junior year at Northwestern and signed with Oakland a year later. Shortly after Schultz signed, the A's asked him to stop throwing over the top and become a submariner, a change that had worked so well with Brad Ziegler at the major league level.
Oakland released Schultz early in 2011, and he went back to his normal overhand delivery after signing with independent league Grand Prairie. The D-backs signed Schultz after watching him in tryout camp before the 2012 season. Schultz was 6-5 with a 3.58 ERA as a reliever for Class A Visalia and Mobile in 2012. He opened the 2013 season in Reno's bullpen but found his niche in the Mobile rotation, where he was 5-4 with a 2.86 ERA in 20 appearances, 16 starts. He finished well in the Arizona Fall League, where he was 3-0 with a 3.09 ERA in seven starts for the Salt River Rafters. Enciarte, 23 in October, is a speed/contact center fielder who hit .281 with five homers, 25 RBIs and 43 stolen bases at Mobile last season. He had 26 and 46 stolen bases in his previous two seasons. The D-backs' roster is at the full 40, so they will not be able to participate in the Rule 5 draft at the winter meetings. NOTES: Scouts Bill Bryk (Midwest) and Howard McCullough (East Coast) were named 2013 scouts of the year in a vote of their peers last week. Bryk, who serves as a special assistant to general manager Kevin Towers after coming to the D-backs before the 2011 season, is credited with signing Tony Gwynn in San Diego and recently was responsible for signing Schultz. McCullough, who has been with the D-backs since their scouting staff was formed in 1996, signed Chad Tracy and Mark Reynolds among others. Follow Jack Magruder on Twitter.
