The Diamondbacks drafted Seth Simmons in the 40th round in 2011, the last round of Major League Baseball’s amateur draft. He was a 5-foot-9 right-hander with a fastball that sat in the low-90s. He had been demoted to Double-A Mobile after a disastrous start to the season at Triple-A Reno and then was cut loose by the organization in mid-May.

“I was a little worried that I wouldn’t get another job,” the 28-year-old Simmons admitted this week.

ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERS (Through Friday; min. 180 ABs; 60 IP) Avg.: .382, OF Alex Dickerson (AAA)

.382, OF Alex Dickerson (AAA) OBP: .425, Dickerson

.425, Dickerson SLG: .622, Dickerson

.622, Dickerson HRs: 28, OF Hunter Renfroe (AAA)

28, OF (AAA) RBIs: 99, Renfroe

99, Renfroe Steals: 33, OF Michael Gettys (A, A+)

33, OF Michael Gettys (A, A+) Wins: 12, RHP Dinelson Lamet (A+, AA)

12, RHP Dinelson Lamet (A+, AA) ERA: 0.99, LHP Kyle McGrath (A+, AA)

0.99, LHP Kyle McGrath (A+, AA) WHIP: 0.74, McGrath

0.74, McGrath Saves: 14, RHP Jason Jester (AA, AAA)

14, RHP Jason Jester (AA, AAA) Strikeouts: 145, Lamet (A+, AA)

145, Lamet (A+, AA) SO/W: 9.38, McGrath

Turns out, it’s true what they say about who you know outranking what you know.

Two days after his release, a San Diego number popped up on Simmons’ phone while he was at home in Winston-Salem, N.C. The number wasn’t familiar but the voice was: Andy Green, Simmons’ skipper during his 2014 stint in Mobile, Ala.

“Sizzle Simmons,” Green said with a smile. “I’ve always liked him. I’ve always thought he had an opportunity to pitch in a big league bullpen at some point in time. The slider plays really well and he’s always punched people out.”

Green would know.

He called on Simmons for 60 strikeouts against 18 walks and 28 hits in 47 2/3 innings in 2014. Two years later, he had Assistant General Manager Josh Stein and bullpen coach Doug Bochtler with him on the line when the Padres offered Simmons a spot at Double-A San Antonio.

“He didn’t guarantee me anything,” Simmons said. “He told me, straight up, you’re going to get another chance and what I did with it was pretty much up to me.”

Simmons is doing well with it.



The reigning Texas League pitcher of the week, Simmons extended his scoreless innings streak to 22 innings before Frisco scratched a run across in the fourth inning Wednesday, their only run in another quality six-inning start for a right-hander who arrived in the organization as a bullpen arm.

Reintroducing a curveball that he’d shelved years earlier, Simmons allowed only an unearned run in a spot start in June 17. After one more appearance out of the bullpen, the East Carolina product has since turned in quality starts in eight of his 12 ensuing appearances.

He hasn’t allowed more than four runs in either of them and is 2-3 with a 1.94 ERA, 77 strikeouts and 24 walks in 83 2/3 innings after allowing 15 earned runs 15 1/3 innings to start the year in Arizona’s farm system.

“I’m just grateful for the opportunity,” Simmons said. “I don’t look at it any deeper than I have to pitch (my next turn in the rotatiJon). At end of the day, I’m guaranteed one pitch and then guaranteed another if I can get through that one.

"After that anything can happen.”

Cal League contraction

Minor League Baseball announced this week that High Desert (Rangers) and Bakersfield ( Mariners ) will cease operations after the season, dropping the California League down to eight teams for the first time since 1981.

Bakersfield was a charter member of the league when it formed in 1941 and boasted the circuit’s oldest stadium, an outdated park that has seen several attempts to replace or modernize it come and go in recent years. Stadium issues are also forcing High Desert to close its doors after 26 seasons in Adelanto, the most recent of which was the city’s attempt to tear up a lease in which the team agreed to pay $1 per year in rent in exchange for taking over field maintenance and related costs.

The Mavericks – which moved into the stadium in 1991 as a Padres affiliate – won a temporary injunction for this season but the uncertainty forced Minor League Baseball to shift two teams to the Carolina League: One in Kinston, N.C., and another in Fayetteville, N.C.

AROUND THE FARM

El Paso (AAA): RHP Phil Maton debuted in the PCL on Friday with four strikeouts over 1 2/3 hitless innings. He is 5-3 with 74 strikeouts, 11 walks and 31 hits allowed in 49 1/3 innings spread between low Single-A, high Single-A and now Triple-A.

RHP Phil Maton debuted in the PCL on Friday with four strikeouts over 1 2/3 hitless innings. He is 5-3 with 74 strikeouts, 11 walks and 31 hits allowed in 49 1/3 innings spread between low Single-A, high Single-A and now Triple-A. San Antonio (AA): RHP Yimmi Brasoban has converted four of six saves and has a 2.84 ERA, 33 strikeouts and a 1.07 WHIP in 31 2/3 innings since moving to the Texas League.

RHP Yimmi Brasoban has converted four of six saves and has a 2.84 ERA, 33 strikeouts and a 1.07 WHIP in 31 2/3 innings since moving to the Texas League. Lake Elsinore (A+): SS Ruddy Giron left Thursday’s game after he was hit in the mouth by a bad hop. He was 5-for-13 with a homer, two doubles and two RBIs in five games since his promotion.

SS Ruddy Giron left Thursday’s game after he was hit in the mouth by a bad hop. He was 5-for-13 with a homer, two doubles and two RBIs in five games since his promotion. Fort Wayne (A): 3B Carlos Belen has a career-high 11 homers through 105 games, but its hitting .224/.278/.403 with 120 strikeouts.

3B Carlos Belen has a career-high 11 homers through 105 games, but its hitting .224/.278/.403 with 120 strikeouts. Tri-City (SS): LHP Joey Lucchesi, a fourth-rounder in 2016, has struck out 49 and walked just two while fashioning a 1.50 ERA over 36 innings.

LHP Joey Lucchesi, a fourth-rounder in 2016, has struck out 49 and walked just two while fashioning a 1.50 ERA over 36 innings. AZL Padres (R): SS Eguy Rosario, 17, is 6-for-16 since his promotion from the Dominican Summer League, where he was a .341/.421/.470 hitter.

SS Eguy Rosario, 17, is 6-for-16 since his promotion from the Dominican Summer League, where he was a .341/.421/.470 hitter. DSL Padres (R): LHP Omar Fernandez, 17, leads the league with an 0.76 ERA over 59 1/3 innings.

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