The Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired right-handed pitching prospect Cristian Mena from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for outfielder Dominic Fletcher.
Cristian Mena
In 27 starts last season between Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte, Mena went 8-7 with a 4.85 ERA in 133.2 innings pitched. The 21-year old also had 156 strikeouts at 24.8 percent strikeout rate to go along with 64 walks. Mena had been with Chicago the previous three seasons signing as an International Free Agent out of San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic in 2019. He joins Arizona as the White Sox’ No. 10 ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline. At 6-foot-3, Mena is a hard throwing right handed pitcher with a great arsenal. He provides depth and future upside to a Diamondbacks system that could use support in the pitching department. He will begin pitching this season with with Triple-A Reno, per GM Mike Hazen.
Dominic Fletcher
On the other side, Arizona is sending away Fletcher, in an already position-filled roster spot. Corbin Carroll, Lourdes Gurriel, Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy, Pavin Smith, and newly acquired Joc Pederson are all outfielders. Fletcher, 26, was drafted in the second round in the 2019 MLB draft. During his short tenure last season, Fletcher played in 28 games with the Diamondbacks hitting .301 with two home runs and 14 RBIs. In 66 games with Triple-A Reno, he put up impressive numbers from the left-side slashing .291/.399/ .501 to go along with 18 doubles and 10 home runs. The younger brother of Braves infielder David Fletcher now joins a White Sox outfield in competition with Andrew Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr.
