When the Diamondbacks sent left-handed reliever Kyle Backhus to the Phillies on December 19, the move didn’t exactly land as a feel-good moment for Arizona fans. As SI.com noted, the club was dealing away one of its few left-handed relief options, and that alone made the trade feel a little uneasy from the start.
In return, Arizona got Avery Owusu-Asiedu, the 6-foot-4, 245-pound outfielder known as “AOA.” At the time, the fit was hard to read. Backhus had shown some promise in 2025, posting a 4.62 ERA with 10 holds and two saves in 25.1 innings for the Diamondbacks, according to SI.com. Owusu-Asiedu, meanwhile, had not exactly forced the issue at High-A Hillsboro. By the time he reached Double-A Amarillo, he was still sitting at a .202 average and a .658 OPS, though he had also already hit 13 home runs.
That’s what makes the recent turn so interesting. Since the promotion, SI.com says Owusu-Asiedu has looked like a different player, and not in a small-sample, maybe-he’s-just-hot kind of way. The piece describes his work with the Sod Poodles as “truly astounding,” which is the kind of language that gets attention even in a system full of prospects trying to break through.
For Diamondbacks fans, this is the part worth watching. Trades like this often get judged in the moment, especially when a team gives up a useful arm. But player development has a way of changing the story, and Owusu-Asiedu’s rise after the move to Double-A Amarillo is exactly the sort of thing that can make an offseason deal look very different a few months later.
The takeaway from SI.com is simple: the early numbers were rough, the trade looked puzzling, and then Owusu-Asiedu started flashing the kind of production that makes people take a second look. In a season where every organization is searching for impact, that’s enough to put a prospect firmly on the radar.
