D-backs recall Walker, option Andriese

SAN FRANCISCO -- The D-backs bolstered their position-player depth before Tuesday evening's game against the Giants at AT&T Park, recalling first baseman/outfielder Christian Walker from Triple-A Reno.
"With Christian here," manager Torey Lovullo said, "we have a big right-handed bat on the bench, and we know over the next several games, we're going to see a number of left-handed starting pitchers. We want to make sure we're fortifying the right spots."
The D-backs faced left-hander Madison Bumgarner on Tuesday night and will see a trio of southpaws -- Rich Hill, Clayton Kershaw and Hyun Jin Ryu -- in their next series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
In 84 games for Reno this season, Walker has slashed .299/.354/.568 with 25 doubles, four triples, 18 home runs and 71 RBIs. The versatile 27-year-old posted a 1.035 OPS in his past 29 games.
Walker will embark on his fifth stint with the D-backs this season, and likely his last with rosters expanding on Saturday. He's appeared in 20 games for Arizona, primarily as a pinch-hitter, going 5-for-24 with a home run.

"It's just intense," Walker said of pinch-hitting. "It's exciting. It's fun. For me, I spend most of the game studying the pitcher and seeing what he's got. It's five or six innings, seven or eight innings sometimes, of preparation for only a few moments on the field. So just maintaining a calm head and staying under control and knowing your role. That's where the confidence comes back in. Knowing it's there, I can help this team."
"[Walker's] a very dynamic individual when it comes to preparation and belief and confidence," Lovullo said. "He's got a great ability to go out and perform, we know that. But he's got a couple separators, and it's what's between his ears that really pushes him in the right direction."
Right-hander Matt Andriese was optioned to Class A Advanced Visalia to make room for Walker on the 25-man active roster.
"The plan is obviously to send [Andriese] out, start him, and just give him a little more versatility to create a little more length for us, if needed," Lovullo said. "I know we're going to have some September callups, but we just figured it would be an opportunity for him to go and get multiple innings in an outing and get stretched out, in case we have that need pop up in September."

With the D-backs planning to add pitching depth from Reno in September, Andriese will go to Visalia to not take any innings away from potential additions to the Major League roster.
"I think, geographically, it was a little bit easier for him to get in and out," Lovullo said.