In what should have been a night to celebrate, the Arizona Diamondbacks instead delivered another reminder of why their bullpen might be the biggest liability threatening their season.
Sporting their new City Connect uniforms for the first time — paying homage to the franchise's early days with a throwback purple and teal aesthetic — the Diamondbacks took the field Friday night ready to build on the momentum of a series-opening win over the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
However, before fans could even settle in, starter Eduardo Rodriguez was shelled for eight runs in just 2 2/3 innings, forcing the Diamondbacks to dig themselves out of an early five-run hole. To their credit, they pulled it off. Arizona’s offense — one of the more productive lineups in baseball — fought all the way back, and took an 11-8 lead into the ninth inning after knocking out Dodgers young upstart Roki Sasaki and lighting up the Dodgers bullpen.
All they needed was three outs — something the Dodgers were not going to give them without a fight. With both of Arizona’s co-closers, A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez, still on the injured list, the team turned to Kevin Ginkel to slam the door. He imploded, recording just one out while surrendering the three-run cushion. By the time the dust settled, the Diamondbacks were left with a heartbreaking 14-11 defeat.
The Diamondbacks must act quickly to fix their bullpen crisis
It was the latest in a growing list of pitching disasters for a bullpen that ranks among the league’s worst. Arizona's relievers are ranked 26th in MLB with a 4.95 ERA, second-to-last in home runs allowed per nine innings (1.32 HR/9), and bottom three in bullpen WAR at -0.4. Simply put, they aren’t missing enough bats, they aren’t keeping the ball in the yard, and they aren’t protecting leads.
Manager Torey Lovullo had little choice but to turn to Ginkel in the ninth. Shelby Miller, arguably the club’s most reliable high-leverage arm at the moment, had already pitched in the eighth to navigate a stretch featuring Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts. While Miller carved through that part of the Dodgers’ lineup, it left Ginkel to face the rest — and he simply couldn’t get the job done.
The looming return of Justin Martinez could provide a temporary lift, but expecting one reliever to fix what has been a season-long issue is wishful thinking. With the Diamondbacks holding the 22nd-ranked farm system and lacking obvious internal upgrades, the front office may need to get aggressive on the trade market — perhaps even be forced to overpay — to acquire the bullpen reinforcements this team clearly needs.
Hovering just above .500 and sitting six games back in a loaded NL West, Arizona is dangerously close to wasting a year of contention. The offense has proven it can compete with anyone. But until the bullpen is addressed, nights like Thursday will keep happening — and the gap between them and the Dodgers, Padres, and Giants will only continue to widen.