McGuff Headed Back To Affiliated Baseball With Arizona Diamondbacks

Evansville Otters starting pitcher Patrick McGuff had his contract purchased by the Arizona Diamondbacks this week.

“Patrick picked up right where he left us last season,” Otters manager Andy McCauley said.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity the Diamondbacks are giving Patrick and wish him the best of luck.”

Patrick McGuff is from Cincinnati, Ohio and joined the Otters for his first stint in Evansville at the beginning of the 2018 season.

This will be McGuff’s third stint in affiliated baseball. He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 36^th round of the 2016 MLB June Amateur Draft out of Morehead State University. McGuff spent 2016-17 in the Twins organization.

Then after five starts with the Otters in 2018, McGuff was signed by the Cincinnati Reds. McGuff re-signed with the Otters following the 2019 MLB Spring Training season.

“I’m happy as I can be to get another shot in affiliated baseball,” McGuff said.

“It’s always nice to be wanted and the Diamondbacks purchasing my contract made me feel like they want me to be a part of what they have going on there.”

In 2018 with the Otters, McGuff was 3-1 with a 1.55 ERA and 26 strikeouts in five starts and 29 innings pitched. He also tossed one complete game shutout.

In six starts in 2019, McGuff was 5-0 in 43 innings pitched, posting a 1.04 ERA, recording 60 strikeouts, and tossing two complete games.

“This year, I was just trying to be as aggressive as I could in the strike zone, hunting strikeouts, and the aggressive mentality is what led to a lot of success,” McGuff said.

“I’m hoping to get outs and pitch as many innings as possible while putting up good numbers with my new organization.”

In his last start with the Otters, McGuff went the distance in a 3-0 win against the Schaumburg Boomers, throwing a one-hitter in the process. The lone hit came with McGuff being one out away from tossing the fourth no-hit bid in Otters’ history. McGuff struck out 11 batters in the shutout win.

“Friday’s performance by Patrick was as impressive as any I’ve seen,” McCauley said. “He commanded both sides of the plate and all three of his off-speed pitches were working.”

“I couldn’t thank the coaching staff and the Evansville Otters organization enough for everything they’ve done,” McGuff said. “From top to bottom, thank you to everyone.”

McGuff is the second Otters player to be signed to an affiliated organization this season.

Utility position player Taylor Lane signed with the Mets organization in May after possessing a .348 batting average to start the season with the Otters.