The Arizona Diamondbacks announced their coaching staff for the 2025 season. The most notable changes comes from the pitching side, as well as a significant change with the third base coach.
Torey Lovullo, Jeff Banister, Joe Mather, and Damion Easley have been retained in their current roles from 2024. Lovullo will begin his ninth season as the D-backs manager, the longest tenure in franchise history. Banister will be the bench coach, Mather the hitting coach, and Easley an assistant hitting coach; all of whom are in their fourth season in their current role. Dave McKay, the longest-tenured coach on the staff, will continue to coach base running and the outfield.
Diamondbacks complete major overhaul of pitching coaching staff
The most notable changes are on the pitching coaching staff, as Brent Strom, Mike Fetters, and Dan Carlson were all relieved of their duties. Strom had been the D-backs' pitching coach since 2022 and has since moved on to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Dan Carlson, who spent 23 years in the organization, was also asked to move on.
Brian Kaplan will be the primary pitching coach for Arizona. He spent the past six seasons in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, first as a performance consultant in 2019-2021, then becoming the director of pitching and assistant pitching coach for the Phillies in 2022-2024.
Owen Dew will be the assistant pitching coach. Dew comes from the Cleveland Guardians' organization, where he's climbed the ladder over the past eight seasons. The last two were spent with Cleveland's Triple-A affiliate in Columbus.
Wellington Cepeda takes over as the bullpen coach. After pitching four seasons in the organization, he moved on to coaching, where he spent 2001-2019 as a pitching coach or coordinator at various levels in the system. He left the D-backs organization to be the bullpen coach for the Miami Marlins for the previous five seasons.
Farm director replaces long-time Diamondbacks third base coach
Shaun Larkin, who served as the farm director in 2024, will replace Tony Perezchica as the third base coach and primary infield instructor. Perezchica had been the third base coach for the past eight seasons, as one of Lovullo's first hires, but has since moved on to the Houston Astros.
Larkin's experience comes primarily in player development with the Cleveland Guardians' and Los Angeles Dodgers' organizations. He served as the Dodgers' field coordinator before being hired by the D-backs to be their farm director. There is some past experience as a hitting coach and manager from his time in Cleveland.
Travis Denker replaces Rick Short as assistant hitting coach
To round out the changes in the coaching staff, Travis Denker replaces Rick Short as the assistant hitting coach behind Joe Mather. Denker played in the D-backs minor league system in 2016-2017 before transitioning into a hitting coach. He's worked at the top three levels of the system with Visalia, Amarillo, and Reno before getting promoted to the big leagues. Short will remain in the D-backs organization as the minor league field coordinator.