The Arizona Diamondbacks brought back one of their former starting pitchers on Wednesday. According to MLB.com, Dan Haren will join the Diamondbacks as a pitching strategist, which is a newly created position.
This will be a completely new look for the Diamondbacks coaching staff. They have a new manager with former Boston Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo. Former Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was hired as the bench coach and Tim Laker was also added to the Diamondbacks coaching staff, as an assistant hitting coach.
This could be a big move for the Diamondbacks. Their pitching staff can use all the help they can get. Pitching coach Mike Butcher did not seem to do a great job by himself last season. They posted a league-worst 5.09 team earned run average. Not all of the blame should be put on Butcher, though. The bullpen did not have much talent.
The Diamondbacks Twitter page first reported that they were adding Haren Wednesday afternoon.
#Dbacks name Dan Haren as Pitching Strategist. He will work with the front office, Major League coaching staff, and analytics department. pic.twitter.com/iqG9PL1jNh
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) December 6, 2016
Considering the level of analytics present in the MLB now, adding some help for Butcher is a smart move. Haren played with the organization from 2008-2010. He retired as a member of the Chicago Cubs after the 2015 season.
Haren will mostly be working with the front office and analytics department. These type of analyst positions are becoming more and more common in the MLB.
Diamondbacks fans are hoping that this move can help starting pitchers Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller be more productive. Both pitchers were disappointing after the Diamondbacks invested so much in them. Furthermore, Haren might be able to help out newly acquired starting pitcher Taijuan Walker with his adjustments to Arizona after being with the Seattle Mariners.
This is an exciting move for the Diamondbacks organization. It looks like a whole new culture could be brought to the locker room.
Andrew Miller is a writer for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Outside Pitch MLB. You can follow and interact with him on Twitter.
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