The news on Monday that the team had lost reliever Andrew Saalfrank for the season, after shoulder surgery, was not exactly the way the Diamondbacks wanted the week of pitchers and catchers reporting to
start. Since debuting as a September call-up in 2023, Saalfrank has posted a 1.79 ERA, and was better even than that last year, with a 1.24 ERA. Of course, that was limited to only 28 appearances, coming after he had finished serving a suspension for gambling. But going into the off-season, he was one of only a few relievers who seemed locked in for a 2026 bullpen spot. So discovering he won’t be appearing is a significant blow.
What can the team do in the left-handed bullpen department? Let’s look at the various areas from which they could pull.
The 40-man roster
There are currently seven left-handed pitchers on the 40-man roster. However, for one reason or another, most of there are not credible replacements for Saalfrank.
- Mitch Bratt – Outside of his 2023 stint in the Arizona Fall League, he has been almost exclusively a starter. While using him in the bullpen is possible e.g. Ryne Nelson, that would most likely be as long relief, not the situational lefty role Saalfrank occupied.
- Kohl Drake – The same goes for Drake, perhaps even more so. He will be part of the team’s rotational depth in 2026, and quite close to the top of the AAA depth chart. The Diamondbacks will want to keep him stretched out down in Reno, for that purpose.
- A.J. Puk – Puk said yesterday he is hopeful he can return by early May. Because his procedure was less invasive, that should reduce the rehab time. He may start in low-leverage situations, but I would expect him to take over the closer’s role quite quickly, with Justin Martinez likely out until late August.
- Eduardo Rodriguez – Simply put, earns too much money to be moved to a bullpen role at this point, with two years still left on his contract.
- Blake Walston – It’s been a while, Walston having Tommy John surgery in mid-March 2025. While there have been no updates since, expectation at the time was about fourteen months, so we are probably looking at late May before he can pitch.
That leaves just two candidates: Philip Abner and Brandyn Garcia, and they have less than twenty innings of major-league experience between them. That’s not necessarily a show-stopper – Saalfrank claimed the job fresh out of the minors, making more appearances in the 2023 playoffs than in the regular season. But it’s not a great body of work on which to base things. Abner looked decent in 2025, with a 2.86 FIP, but that’s off a pitiful sample size of 3.2 innings. Garcia, who came over from Seattle in the Josh Naylor trade, has slightly more experience and put up a decent 3.07 FIP between the Mariners and D-backs. Rolling the dice with either would be a risk.
Non-roster invitees
While there are a lot of non-roster invitees to spring training, only three are left-handed pitchers. Conveniently, I wrote about those at the link above. Inconveniently, none of them are a good fit for the role. While Tommy Henry is in camp, he is recovering from Tommy John surgery last June, so clearly isn’t going to be ready. Spencer Giesting and Yu-Min Lin are both young starting pitchers, and would be better served in their development by staying in that role, rather than getting intermittent work out of a major-league bullpen. So I don’t see any of the trio as being a credible replacement for Saalfrank on Opening Day.
Outside the organization
I would definitely not be surprised to see the team go outside the current system to find a replacement, and there are a couple of names of definite interest, and both should already be known to Arizona fans. The first is former D-back Anthony Banda, who was designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Dodgers – they simply had too many lefties. It’s generally expected they will be able to find a trade partner for him before he hits waivers. He has had an ERA+ of 130 across the last two years, covering 119 appearances, and at $1.625 million for the year, seems well worth that price. Should the D-backs be in on him? There is always a general reluctance to deal within the division, but he certainly would fill a need.
The other possibility is the free-agent market, and a reunion with Jalen Beeks. He was the busiest member of the Diamondbacks pitching staff last year, appearing 61 times, and with a solid ERA+ of 115, while being paid $1.25 million. He would be another reasonably cheap option, and unlike Banda, would not cost prospect capital. There are other decent left-handed veterans still on the market. Justin Wilson was good with the Red Sox, and Danny Coulombe – a local kid, who went to Chaparral HS, possibly overlapping with the SnakePitette – was great with the Twins, then terrible after being traded to the Rangers at the deadline. Does Mike Hazen have the money left for any of these?
Conclusion
While there is no requirement to have a left-hander in the bullpen, it has been standard practice for the D-backs in the Lovullo era, and we all know how he likes to play match-ups. So, given the paucity of the options currently in the system, I would not be surprised to see the team look for an outside replacement. This could come via a trade, a free-agent signing or even adding a non-roster invitee or two to the squad, and seeing who impresses in spring training. At least the timing of Saalfrank’s surgery gives time for alternatives to be assessed. Which this sucks, it would have sucked considerably harder if it had happened on the eve of Opening Day.
