Diamondbacks Manager Torey Lovullo Addresses the Closer Competition

Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo spoke with the media on the first day of pitchers and catchers reporting. One of the biggest topics of conversation was the closer's role.

All off-season it's been assumed the D-backs would add a closer to their bullpen mix, but as of February 12 that has not come to pass.

Options have been narrowed down as closers have flown off the board. Speaking this morning on Arizona Sports, General Manager Mike Hazen said they are still looking for a bullpen arm.

Last year Justin Martinez had taken over the role for a while from Paul Sewald, but then he later lost it to A.J. Puk. As the D-backs opened camp, this situation was clearly one that is far from being settled.

Asked directly if it was his goal and intention by the end of spring to have a solidified, designated closer, Lovullo was non-committal.

"I would like to, but it's not going to be an absolute necessity for me," Lovullo said. "I don't want to just give somebody a job because it's going to make me feel better. I've got to make sure that wherever we're handing out these spots... it's for the best reasons for this team to go out and win a baseball game. So I'll adhere to that, and I'd like to, but I'm not going to force it."

This answer seemed to conflict slightly with comments that Hazen made this morning. Hazen indicated that in fact Lovullo prefers to have a clearly defined closer. So the question becomes whether that will come internally or externally.

One internal possibility of course is left-hander A.J. Puk. In particular Lovullo was asked if his left-handedness and ability to match up would make him hesitant to put him in the closer's role. But that does not appear to be an issue for Lovullo.

"To be honest with you, we've probably had a couple conversations about him in particular as we have everybody else. But no, left-handedness wouldn't be an issue for me."

The question still remains however, if not Puk or Martinez, then who? Asked he if would be surprised if anyone but Puk or Justin Martinez captured the closer's role, Lovullo once again parried back, choosing instead to emphasize the competitive nature of the situation.

"Would I be surprised? No, not at all... I mean, Kevin Ginkel closed games for us last year. He was fantastic in that step-up role. I don't think I'm targeting any one person at this point. I'm going to let these guys go out and perform and slot into a role or a situation that's going to help the team win games."

While Lovullo's hesitancy to reveal who is at the top of this particular depth chart at this juncture is more than understandable, the situation is also fraught with danger for the club.

The bullpen, and closer in particular, has been a sore spot for the organization and for Lovullo, for the greater part of his and Mike Hazen's tenure.

The team has tried various routes, including bringing in several veteran closers in the early years of their stewardship. More often than not, those veterans eventually failed.

More recently, they attempted to go with a committee in the first half of 2023, with disastrous results. The arrival of Paul Sewald in August of 2023 seemed to mark a shift in philosophy away from the matchups approach.

In fact, Lovullo and Hazen stated quite often last year that the best version of the bullpen was one in which Sewald was the closer.

Unfortunately, Sewald collapsed in July and never recovered, and now he's a member of the Cleveland Guardians. Arizona is left searching for answers as to how they'll piece it together once again.

Perhaps they'll still make a trade or signing. Perhaps they already know who they want to win the role, and are just going to let it play out in spring to make sure they made the right choice.

Opening day is 43 days away. They have plenty of time to figure it out and make the best decision. But if history is any guide, the best decision will be one in which they've settled on a closer, not a committee.

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