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Highly touted Augenstein gets the call

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Bryan Augenstein went 7-5 with a 2.74 in 2008 in Class A play. (Emily Jones/MiLB.com)

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• Reds' Rosales trying to shake fielding woes
• Augenstein's Minor League stats

By Tom Singer / MLB.com

05/13/09 2:40 AM ET

PHOENIX -- Bryan Augenstein brings his blinding Minor League credentials to The Show, as the 22-year-old right-hander is booked to make his Major League debut in the series finale against the Reds on Wednesday.

Augenstein's numbers are imposing: He went 5-0 with an 0.78 ERA at Double-A Mobile, with a 31-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Just don't expect the 2007 seventh-round Draft choice to be imposing, warned the former Arizona vice president of player development who brought him into and nurtured him in the organization.

"He may not be as dominant as people like to see. He puts a lot of balls in play, so we'll need to play good defense behind him," said A.J. Hinch, who has progressed to D-backs manager.

Augenstein will be making as big a jump as did his new manager. This is his first season pitching above the Class A level -- all of six Mobile starts' worth.

"He had all the ingredients before, but he's learned a lot about pitching," Hinch said of Augenstein, who won't report until shortly prior to taking the mound -- he isn't even on the club's 40-man roster, so room has to be made for him.

"I'll be excited to see him," Hinch said. "He's one of the best strike-throwers in the Minor Leagues."

Pitching matchup
ARI: RHP Bryan Augenstein (0-0, -.-- ERA)
Augenstein will have his contract selected from Double-A Mobile in order to start Wednesday's game against the Reds. The right-hander, who will be making his Major League debut, is taking the spot of Yusmeiro Petit, who in turn was taking the spot of injured ace Brandon Webb in the rotation. In five starts at Mobile this year, Augenstein was 5-0 with an 0.78 ERA. Augenstein went a combined 7-5 with a 2.74 in 2008, splitting the season between Arizona's two Class A level teams. He was the team's seventh-round pick out of the University of Florida in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.

CIN: RHP Johnny Cueto (3-1, 1.59 ERA)
Cueto has given up just three earned runs over his last 33 2/3 innings for a 0.81 ERA over his last five outings. Until Friday, he hadn't allowed more than one walk in any of his previous four starts. During a 6-4 win over the Cardinals on Friday, the right-hander worked seven innings and allowed five hits and two walks with three strikeouts while throwing 98 pitches. He left the game with a 6-1 lead. The lone run scored on a ground-ball double play that ended Cueto's career-high scoreless streak at 15 innings.

Tidbits
Ryan Roberts, hit by Micah Owings' final pitch of Tuesday night's game, left the game with a contusion near the left elbow. Roberts tried to stay in the game but was removed after going to first base when he began feeling "light-headed," according to Hinch. "We think it got soft tissue, and that he'll be fine," said Hinch. ... Felipe Lopez's single and RBI double accounted for his team-leading 15th multihit game of the season on Tuesday.

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Up next
• Thursday: Off-day
• Friday: D-backs (Doug Davis, 2-5, 3.25) at Braves (Javier Vazquez, 3-3, 3.88), 4:30 p.m. MST
• Saturday: D-backs (Max Scherzer, 0-3, 3.98) at Braves (Kenshin Kawakami, 2-4, 5.79), 4:00 p.m. MST

Tom Singer is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.