What to Know About Arizona Diamondbacks' Newest Coach

How Tim Bogar Came to be Named the Diamondbacks Third Base Coach

Larkin had just been relieved of his duties as the third base coach just an hour or two before, and there was not time to waste. Bogar was a on a flight the next day, arriving in Phoenix Thursday night.

The sudden nature of the call was not an impediment to Bogar to just jump right in.

"It was a little bit of a whirlwind. It's kind of out of the frying pan, into the fire type of thing," Bogar said.

"I came over to this organization to do whatever I can to help these guys. And if this was the reason to do it, then I'm here to do it."

Bogar has been in the Diamondbacks organization for two years. Ironically, it was Larkin, serving as the Director of player development at the time, who brought Bogar into the organization.

The two men had known each other for over 20 years, which included two years of Larkin playing under Bogar in the minor leagues.

Bogar was assigned to manage the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles. At the end of the year, Larkin was tabbed as third base coach, and Bogar took a job as a roving minor league coordinator under current Director of Player Development Chris Slivka.

Said Bogar of Larkin, "Shaun and I have had a really good relationship, and you know what? I know Shaun's been in a tough situation, but the bottom line is that man's pretty smart. He's a really good baseball man, and going forward you're going to see some good things happen."

Tim Bogar's Background and Qualifications

Bogar played for nine seasons in the major leagues between 1993-2001 with most of that time coming at shortstop and a hefty amount of innings at third base. He later served as the third base coach for the Boston Red Sox in 2010-2011.

From 2017-2023 he served as the bench coach and occasional base coach for the Washington Nationals. That included some time coaching third when the third base coach got ejected.

During his time as the Amarillo manager he also coached third base for half the year.

"It'll come back pretty quickly. I've been at this level , 2023 was the last year I was here, so it hasn't been too long since I've seen the speed of this game," Bogar said

Bogar is also very familiar with many of the players. Some he coached in Amarillo, and during spring training he also coached the Reno Aces team.

"I got to know most of these guys, a lot of these guys, when they were down there before they got up here. I'm very equipped to know what they're doing. Obviously, I haven't seen it in person for a little bit of time, but I'm ready for that."

Torey Lovullo spoke earlier in the day regarding his comfort level with Bogar's ability to handle the speed of the game.

Related Content: Diamondbacks' Manager Explains New Third Base Coach Decision

"He was a middle infielder. I feel like middle infielders and catchers make the best third-base coaches, because once you have that clock on, it's always on for the rest of your life," Lovullo said of Bogar.

"You know how fast balls can get reversed and thrown around the diamond. And Bogar, he was a really good defensive middle infielder for a long time. He's done it and coached third base at this level, and I think he's got the right heartbeat."

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