Reliever Brandon Medders admitted that he was disappointed he was not among the major-league call-ups Friday night.
The Arizona Diamondbacks promoted five minor leaguers when rosters expanded, but passed over Medders, who has been working on his command and confidence pitching for the Tucson Sidewinders since early June.
He had to wait another 24 hours.
The Diamondbacks promoted Medders after Saturday's 12-11 loss to Sacramento at Tucson Electric Park, Sidewinders manager Bill Plummer said.
"It's the best news of the night," Plummer said.
The D-backs optioned Medders, a right-hander, to Tucson on June 8 after he had allowed eight home runs in 22 1/3 innings. He went 5-3 with a 4.69 ERA, striking out 38 and walking 24 in 48 innings with the Sidewinders.
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"I had to battle back," Medders said. "I would have liked to have not been here as long as I was, but it happened the way it happened. I got back, so all's good."
With Tucson, Medders was 4-1 with a 3.94 ERA after the All-Star break compared to 1-2 with a 5.89 ERA before.
On Friday night, the D-backs added right-handed reliever Jailen Peguero and lefties Dana Eveland and Bill Murphy and infielder Robby Hammock from the Sidewinders. Double-A infielder Emilio Bonifacio also received a promotion, and outfielder Carlos Quentin ended a rehab stint with Tucson and was reinstated from the Arizona disabled list.
Tucson infielder Alberto Callaspo is expected to go soon, as he continues to recover from a hamstring strain.
"Initially, when I got here I was hoping it'd be sometime before September," Medders said. "That's what I wanted. I wasn't playing for a September call-up. Everyday I was trying to get called up, and when it didn't happen (Friday), I didn't really know what to think.
"I was hoping it was still going to happen. My agent being in touch with the Diamondbacks and things the Diamondbacks said to me, I was thinking it was going to happen."
Tucson pitching coach Mike Parrott said Medders has regained his aggressiveness and confidence.
Medders, 27, went 1-2 with a 4.84 ERA with the D-backs in his third consecutive season with the club before being optioned.
"His body language now is 100 percent better than it was when he first joined us," Parrott said. "Now if something bad happens, he doesn't look like he's beaten. He looks like he's still going to get out of that situation."
Medders said simply getting his innings in with Tucson allowed him to improve his command.
"You always want your command to be better, but I'm getting guys out and getting ahead of guys," he said. "I feel I'm where I need to be."
Plummer said after Friday's call-ups that he had been hoping Medders would earn a promotion later.
"He's a great competitor and he's helped us while he's been down here, Plummer said. "He turned it around from when he first got down here to how he's throwing now."
Other Sidewinders might receive September call-ups, but with only two games left it appears unlikely that new players would join Tucson. The Sidewinders end their season Monday night.
Callaspo is day-to-day in terms of returning to the D-backs. Plummer said the organization wants him to get at-bats after he missed two weeks with a hamstring injury. He went 0 for 6 with four strikeouts Saturday.
Inside pitch
● Tucson scored four runs in the ninth Saturday but fell short. Callaspo struck out looking to end the game with runners at second and third. Starter Enrique Gonzalez (8-10) allowed nine runs and 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings for the loss.
today
• What: Sacramento at Winders
• Where: TEP
• When: 6 p.m.
• Radio: 1450-AM
