The Diamondbacks bullpen remains unsettled entering the final three weeks of the 2024 regular season. In the last five weeks, the closer situation has dominated the air space as the primary concern. Over that time, Paul Sewald has been removed as the closer and replaced by Justin Martinez.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Appearing on The Burns & Gambo Show Friday, manager Torey Lovullo was asked about the bullpen. He was first asked if there was a deadline to settle players into specific roles to prepare them for the postseason.
“I don’t know if there’s an exact number, exact timeline there. I think these guys are professional enough to know once they slip into that role that they’re going to be finding their way into that spot more often than not. I’ll probably have conversations with the guys leading up to what we’re hoping is a very, very fruitful postseason. We’ve got to allow guys to go out there and get the job done and pitch and pitch well and find their way back into roles, find their way into the right role. And we’re still searching that out. We’ve got to get there. It’s going to take a little bit of time.”
The eventual roles for both Sewald and Martinez will likely determine the success of the unit in the postseason. Kevin Ginkel and A.J. Puk have earned high-leverage roles in the back of the bullpen, but neither are considered options as the closer because the team wants the maximum flexibility to deploy them. Barring a sudden reversal, it’s likely that Martinez will get the majority of the save opportunities the rest of the way.
The challenge will be to keep him mentally locked in. Martinez has the type of stuff that can embarrass any hitter but tends to get overamped in these big situations. He’s a 23-year-old who has gone from Triple-A to closer in the span of a single season, so there are obvious growing pains. While has converted all eight of his save opportunities since August 5, he has allowed earned runs in five of his last 11 appearances.
“There are two ways I’m looking at it. As far as growth and development, I’m very concerned. I want him to have success and continue getting into that head space that he is going to be unhittable. So he’s 22 years old. We’ve got to remember that. He’s going to have really hot streaks. And I need to be patient.”
One elite closer that Lovullo compared Martinez to is Eric Gagne, who set a major league record with 83 straight saves converted from 2003-2004. However, he acknowledged the need to win baseball games. The Diamondbacks are only 1.5 games ahead of both the Mets and Braves in the National League Wild Card race. 12 days ago, they were a series win away from burying the Mets in the Wild Card race, but they’ve dropped seven of their last 11. If Martinez is not getting the job done, Lovullo will have to turn to someone else to lock up the inning.
Another question with the bullpen will be if Paul Sewald will be getting any more high-leverage situations. Since being removed from the closer role, he’s only entered in two games with a leverage index above 0.80 according to his Baseball Reference game log.
In his biggest situation over that time frame, he entered a 6-5 game with multiple runners on base. He served up a pair of home runs, giving the Dodgers enough insurance runs to withstand a late rally by the Diamondbacks in that game.
“That was one of those moments where he probably misguided some of the pitches. What we’re seeing is the data with the climb and the velocity of the fastball was trending back in a very positive direction. It was just he didn’t land it. Will Smith has a nitro zone on the inner half of the plate. It was a ball that leaked back into that space. So he didn’t execute it. But the ball coming out of his hand and some of the tendencies and habits that we’ve seen when he’s successful are showing up not consistently.”
The reality is the Diamondbacks need Sewald to succeed in a consistent role. The team will be carrying at least nine relievers going into the postseason, and he’ll be one of them.
In addition to getting more from the starting rotation down the final stretch of the season, it will be important for the bullpen to settle down in the final stretch. As the games get tougher, and the leads get smaller, it will be important that the bullpen stays stingy and hold these leads to the very end.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Cardinals, and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
