PHOENIX (AP) — There isn't a lot new to the Arizona Diamondbacks this spring, with a couple of notable exceptions.J.D. Martinez won't be in the outfield and the Diamondbacks need a closer.Still, there should be plenty of optimism when the team reports to the Scottsdale, Arizona, training facility, with the entire rotation and pretty much every position player returning from the team that won 93 games, earned the top NL Wild Card spot and beat Colorado in the Wild Card game before being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS.The glaring omission from last year's team is Martinez, who probably slugged his way well out of the Diamondbacks' price range with his half-season in Arizona following a trade with Detroit. Martinez is among the many free agents yet to sign a deal.Torey Lovullo, named National League manager of the year for his work in his first season in Arizona, has to determine who his team's closer will be. Fernando Rodney is gone, and an intriguing possibility is for the... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — There isn't a lot new to the Arizona Diamondbacks this spring, with a couple of notable exceptions.J.D. Martinez won't be in the outfield and the Diamondbacks need a closer.Still, there should be plenty of optimism when the team reports to the Scottsdale, Arizona, training facility, with the entire rotation and pretty much every position player returning from the team that won 93 games, earned the top NL Wild Card spot and beat Colorado in the Wild Card game before being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS.The glaring omission from last year's team is Martinez, who probably slugged his way well out of the Diamondbacks' price range with his half-season in Arizona following a trade with Detroit. Martinez is among the many free agents yet to sign a deal.Lovullo, named National League manager of the year for his work in his first season in Arizona, has to determine who his team's closer will be. Fernando Rodney is gone, and an intriguing possibility is for the team's... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks have finalized an $8.25 million, two-year contract with free agent catcher Alex Avila.Avila fills a roster spot vacated by Chris Iannetta, who shared the catching duties last year and left for an $8.5 million, two-year deal with Colorado.The 31-year-old Avila, a son of Detroit general manager Al Avila, hit .264 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs last year for the Tigers and Chicago Cubs, who acquired him at the July 31 trade deadline. He is a .243 hitter in nine major league seasons.Avila gets $4 million this year and $4.25 million in 2019. He can earn an additional $250,000 annually in performance bonuses based on plate appearances: $25,000 each for 350 and 400, $50,000 apiece for 450 and 500 and $100,000 for 550Avila said the deal came together over the last two weeks."Essentially the first thing that popped into mind was how talented of a team they had," Avila said.Avila joins Jeff Mathis and Chris Herrmann as the Diamondbacks' catchers.Arizona opened... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks have finalized an $8.25 million, two-year contract with free agent catcher Alex Avila.Avila fills a roster spot vacated by Chris Iannetta, who shared the catching duties last year and left for an $8.5 million, two-year deal with Colorado.The 31-year-old Avila, a son of Detroit general manager Al Avila, hit .264 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs last year for the Tigers and Chicago Cubs, who acquired him at the July 31 trade deadline. He is a .243 hitter in nine major league seasons.Avila, speaking in a conference call Wednesday evening, said the deal came together over the last two weeks, and he likes the makeup of the team he is joining."Essentially the first thing that popped into mind was how talented of a team they had," Avila said.Avila joins Jeff Mathis and Chris Herrmann as the Diamondbacks' catchers.Arizona opened a roster spot by designating outfielder Rey Fuentes for assignment Wednesday.Avila said he has no problem sharing the catching duties."It... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks have finalized an $8.25 million, two-year contract with free agent catcher Alex Avila.Avila fills a roster spot vacated by Chris Iannetta, who shared the catching duties last year and left for an $8.5 million, two-year deal with Colorado.The 31-year-old Avila, a son of Detroit general manager Al Avila, hit .264 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs last year for the Tigers and Chicago Cubs, who acquired him at the July 31 trade deadline. He is a .243 hitter in nine major league seasons.Avila joins Jeff Mathis and Chris Herrmann as the Diamondbacks' catchers.Arizona opened a roster spot by designating outfielder Rey Fuentes for assignment on Wednesday.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

PHOENIX (AP) — A person with knowledge of the agreement says catcher Alex Avila has signed a two-year, $8.25 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.The person asked to remain anonymous because the signing has not been officially announced by the team.The 31-year-old Avila fills a roster spot vacated by catcher Chris Iannetta, who signed with Colorado after spending last season sharing the Arizona catching duties.Last season, Avila hit .264 with 14 home runs and 49 RBIs with the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs. He is a career .243 hitter in nine major league seasons and is the son of Tigers general manager Al Avila.Avila joins Jeff Mathis and Chris Herrmann as the team's catchers going into spring training.

C Jeff Mathis got the start in Game 1 instead of regular catcher Chris Iannetta, leaving some to wonder if some friction between Walker and Iannetta might have had something to do with manager Torey Lovullo's decision. Lovullo, though, dismissed it. "I know that they have a longstanding relationship and they're like brothers out there," Lovullo said. "I know certain things you may have seen throughout the course of the year would give you the feeling that it wasn't a great relationship, but believe it or not it's a strong, kind of pushing forward type of relationship. It really was not a big factor for me." Mathis went 1 for 3 with a home run in Friday's Game 1.

C Jeff Mathis was behind the plate for the final three innings after starting on Saturday. He was reinstated from the disabled list this weekend after a fractured right hand. It appears he will be on the postseason roster. "The stiffness was not an issue," Diamondbacks Torey Louvullo said. "I thought there would be some soreness from catching yesterday, but he had no issues there."

C Jeff Mathis was activated from the disabled list on Saturday after being out with a fractured right hand. He caught five innings and went 1-for-2, singling in his first at-bat and striking out in his second. He could be on the playoff roster. "It's great to have him back," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "There's just a comfort level that you feel when he's in the game. We missed that. We have other catchers that are very, very capable and they've done a great job. But Jeff Mathis worked hard to get back here and it was nice to see him back there. I thought he received the ball well, and obviously called a great game, and how can you predict what's going to happen after the long layoff. He comes back and his first at-bat gets a base hit. It just speaks volumes about all the hard work he did behind the scenes."

C Jeff Mathis was activated from the disabled list on Saturday after being out with a fractured right hand. He caught five innings and went 1-for-2, singling in his first at-bat and striking out in his second. He could be on the playoff roster. "It's great to have him back," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "There's just a comfort level that you feel when he's in the game. We missed that. We have other catchers that are very, very capable and they've done a great job. But Jeff Mathis worked hard to get back here and it was nice to see him back there. I thought he received the ball well, and obviously called a great game, and how can you predict what's going to happen after the long layoff. He comes back and his first at-bat gets a base hit. It just speaks volumes about all the hard work he did behind the scenes."

C Jeff Mathis, who is out with a fractured right hand, might be behind the plate in one of the final two regular-season games. Manager Torey Lovullo said Mathis is "getting very close." He said Mathis needs to get in a game before the postseason begins on Wednesday to be used in the wild-card game.

C Jeff Mathis (hand) is continuing on a throwing program and manager Torey Lovullo remains hopeful that Mathis can play the final weekend. Mathis would catch RHP Zack Greinke in the wild card game if healthy, Lovullo said.

C Jeff Mathis (hand) was cleared for baseball activity Monday, but his recovery appears to be a process that will last into early October. Nevertheless, manager Torey Lovullo asked Mathis to join the team on the latest road trip. "He talks to the catchers, walks through different thoughts," Lovullo said. "He's involved on a pretty impressive level."

C Jeff Mathis (fractured hand) had the splint removed from his right hand Monday, three weeks after suffering the injury when he was struck by a foul tip in a game at the Mets on Aug. 21. "I'm optimistic he's turning the corner," Lovullo said. Cs Chris Iannatta and Chris Herrmann have made all of the starts since.

C Jeff Mathis (avulsion fracture) was given a CT scan and saw team hand specialist Dr. Donald Sheridan on Friday, and his timeline remains the same -- he is expected to miss four to six weeks. He was hit in the right hand by a foul tip Tuesday against the Mets."I know Jeff is a very tough guy, so hopefully it is sooner rather than later," manager Torey Lovullo said.

C Jeff Mathis (broken right hand) was placed on the 10-day disabled list Tuesday. Mathis was injured Monday night, when he was hit in the hand by a foul tip off the bat of Mets 1B Dominic Smith in the fourth inning. He managed to play another inning in the field before being lifted. Initial x-rays on Mathis late Monday night were negative but further tests revealed the fracture. Manager Torey Lovullo said Tuesday afternoon he hopes the injury is not season-ending for Mathis but that the club will have a better idea of his prognosis after he sees a hand specialist once the team returns home to Phoenix late Thursday. Lovullo said the Diamondbacks will split the catching duties between C Chris Iannetta and previous third-string C Chris Herrmann. Mathis is batting .213 with two homers and 11 RBIs in 58 games this season.

C Jeff Mathis (right hand contusion) left in the sixth inning Monday, when the Diamondbacks beat the Mets, 3-2, in 10 innings. Mathis was hurt when he was hit by a foul tip in the fourth inning. He was briefly visited by trainers and remained in the game after a couple warmup tosses to RHP Taijuan Walker, but the pain persisted and he was pulled for C Chris Iannetta. Manager Torey Lovullo said X-rays on Mathis were negative and that he would be evaluated further on Tuesday. Mathis went 0-for-1 and was hit by a pitch before exiting. He is batting .213 with two homers and 11 RBIs in 58 games this season.

C Jeff Mathis got some praise for throwing out two runners trying to steal in Thursday night's game. "That didn't surprise me at all," manager Torey Lovullo said. "I know that he is always prepared for those types of moments, he practices those types of plays, he improvises, he's got the foundation to do it perfectly every single time." Continuing his rotating catcher situation, Lovullo went with Chris Iannetta behind the plate on Friday. But Iannetta was hit in the face by a pitch and could miss at least a few games, so expect to see a split of the duties between Mathis and Chris Herrmann.

C Jeff Mathis caught RHP Zack Greinke for the second time is as many starts on Saturday, when Greinke won his first game, but manager Torey Lovullo said that combination may not always work together. "I really don't want to have a pitcher-catcher marriage like that," Lovullo said. "I know it's important for continuity, but we're going to ask all of our catchers to catch every single starter. Zack threw the ball very, very well, and I know Jeff and he were very comfortable." Greinke prefers to throw to one catcher as he did with C Welington Castillo last year. "I've had discussions with Zack, and he knows," Lovullo said. "We're already on ground level with that."

C Jeff Mathis broke up LHP Madison Bumgarner's perfect game with a one-out triple in the sixth inning and was 3-for-4 in his first start with the D-backs after signing a two-year free agent in the winter. His two out-double started the winning two-run rally in the ninth inning. "I just wanted to get on base," Mathis said. RHP Zack Greinke prefers to throw to one catcher over the course of the season, and Mathis appears the early candidate. Mathis graded as one of the best framers in the majors during his time with the Marlins, and new D-backs general manager Mike Hazen considered that a priority entering the season. Mathis is the D-backs' fourth starting catcher is as many years, following Miguel Montero, Tuffy Gosewisch and Welington Castillo.