When the Arizona Diamondbacks traded Miguel Montero to the Cubs this offseason, the main purpose of the exchange was to dump the 40 million dollars he was owed over the next three seasons on Chicago. In fact, very few people in Phoenix ever believed they would hear "Now pitching for the D-Backs Jeferson Mejia" or "Now in to pitch, Zack Godley."  


Tomorrow they will as Arizona's chief baseball officer Tony La Russa announced earlier today that Zack Godley will be recalled from Mobile (Double-A) to start tomorrow's contest versus the Milwaukee Brewers.


An injury (right triceps inflammation) and trip to the disabled list for second-year pitcher Chase Anderson (4-4 record, 4.37 ERA, 67 SO in 18 starts), who was at one point an All-Star snub in 2015, opened up a spot in the rotation for the twenty-five year old Godley to make his Major League debut.


"But who is Zack Godley?"


Godley, taken in the tenth round of the 2013 MLB Draft by Chicago (NL) from the University of Tennessee, spent nearly the entirety of his first professional season in Boise (Single-A Short Season) after hurling a SEC best six complete games. In his first taste of baseball outside of college, the six foot, three inch right-hander blew away Northwest League hitters out of the bullpen by fanning 27 batters in 25 2/3 innings while only allowing five earned runs (1.75 ERA). 


In the following season, the former Volunteer produced more of the same by absolutely dominating Midwest League hitters as Kane County's (Single-A) closer. Not only would Godley collect seven saves in eight attempts, but he would up his strikeouts per nine by sitting down 25 in 15 innings with an ERA of 1.80. Thanks to his fantastic play for the Cougars, the Cubs promoted the South Carolina native to Daytona (Single-A Advanced). Unfortunately, the struggles would begin in the Florida State League.


All started well for Godley with Daytona as he was able to get four innings of scoreless ball underneath his belt. The next two appearances did not though considering Jorge Polanco's Fort Myers Miracle tore apart the reliever for six earned runs in 2/3 of an inning and Josh Bell's (MLB.com's 26th prospect) Bradenton Marauders touched him up for two in 2/3. Despite the rough patch, Godley did bounce back and ended his season on a high with eight earned runs in his last thirty-five innings (2.06 ERA). Many expected him to start the 2015 season with the Tennessee Smokies, C.J. Edwards, and Kyle Schwarber, but the Cubs had other plans.


After being traded to the D-Backs, Godley found himself back at the Single-A Advanced level but on the other side of the country, Visalia, California. Besides going from Florida to California, another huge change was reverting back to being a starting pitcher rather than a closer or reliever. Although the adjustment and transition seems really tough, the former collegiate starter jumped back into the groove of beginning a ballgame with four starts of six plus innings, all resulting in wins! In fact, Godley's first nineteen innings of the season would be thrown without him surrendering a run! 


Despite California League hitters eventually getting adjusted, the third year pro continued to "wheel and deal" before earning a promotion to Mobile (Double-A). As a BayBear, Godley was hit hard for eight earned runs in three starts (14 IP, 5.14 ERA) even though the movement on his pitches were very desirable. While most would not call up a pitcher after those results, Tony La Russa and the organization decided to go with Godley for tomorrow's start rather than other prospects.


Currently, 43-49 Arizona is 9 games back of National League West leading Los Angeles Dodgers and are 6 1/2 behind the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco for the second Wild Card spot in the NL.
 

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About the author
Peyton Wesner
Editor, that has loved and watched sports. He enjoys traveling the country to watch division one college basketball and professional baseball, basketball, and football. In addition, Peyton is a huge enthusiast of Missouri Valley Conference basketball and International League (Triple-A) baseball as he focuses about these topics and many more on his sports blog Courtside with PW at http://courtsidewpw.blogspot.com/?m=1. You can contact him through his email, [email protected], or his twitter, @courtsidewpw.