Diamondbacks Recall Reliever, Option Pitching Prospect

Arizona Diamondbacks have recalled left-hand reliever Joe Mantiply from Triple-A Reno the team announced on Saturday. In a corresponding move, right-hand pitching prospect Cristian Mena was sent down.

The D-backs' bullpen continues to be quite taxed, with their two best back-end relievers in A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez still sitting on the Injured List.

The 34-year-old Mantiply has struggled greatly in 2025. The former All-Star's ERA had ballooned to 15.95 over the course of several blowup outings, before he was optioned to Reno on April 19.

But the Diamondbacks simply do not have enough left-handed pitching depth. Fellow southpaw Jalen Beeks has been a godsend to Arizona's pen, but has pitched in three straight games, and is almost certainly unavailable for Saturday, if not Sunday as well. Jose Castillo is Arizona's only other rested lefty, but has struggled to a 10.38 ERA over 4.1 innings thus far.

Mantiply has actually had some success against the Dodgers, particularly Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani is a career 1-for-9 with no walks and three strikeouts against Mantiply in his career. Freddie Freeman is similarly 1-for-10 with no walks and two punchouts, and Mookie Betts is 2-for-8 with two strikeouts.

After being lit up for four earned runs in his first outing with the Aces, Mantiply has delivered four straight scoreless outings in the offense-heavy environment. If he is able to regain his location and deception, the southpaw can be an effective bullpen arm, but it hasn't looked that way for much of 2025, and the Dodgers are a team that will punish mistakes without fail.

Meanwhile, the righty Mena will return to Reno, where he has struggled as a starting pitcher, posting a 5.76 ERA in a PCL that has been admittedly unkind to pitchers.

Despite Mena's struggles, he is still just 22 years old, and could carve out a role for himself with the Diamondbacks if he showcases more of what he was able to do on Friday.

Entering in long relief of Eduardo Rodríguez, Mena pitched 3.2 scoreless, hitless innings against MLB's most dangerous club. He struck out five, limited hard contact and only allowed one baserunner — a walk that was ultimately stranded.

It was Mena's second career MLB game, with his first also coming against LA in 2024. The righty has a bright future if Friday's game was any indication of what he may be able to do.

But after throwing 46 pitches, he'd be unavailable for at least several days due to being on a starter's rest schedule, and right-hander Ryne Nelson would be available for long relief as of Saturday. Though the move may seem confusing, the D-backs opted to bring in one of their extremely rare left-handed relief options instead of retaining a long reliever who would be likely unavailable for the rest of the series.