Reliever Yoshihisa Hirano has exceeded the expectations of just about everyone this season, including those of the scout who signed him.
“I thought he was going to help us, but not to this extent,” said Mack Hayashi, the club’s director of Pacific Rim operations. “I think he’s surprised a lot of us in a good way.”
Hirano, who left Japan’s top league to sign a two-year, $6 million deal with the Diamondbacks in December, has been the club’s most reliable reliever. He entered Saturday with a 2.09 ERA in 64 2/3 innings, holding opponents to a .