Diamondbacks Reliever Developing Pitch in his Arsenal

Arizona Diamondbacks pitchers and catchers have reported to Salt River Fields, and Spring Training has officially commenced.

On Wednesday, left-handed reliever A.J. Puk spoke to members of the media about his outlook on the upcoming season, and a perhaps surprising alteration to his already-deep arsenal.

Puk was acquired at the 2024 Trade Deadline, in a deal with the Marlins that sent infield prospect Deyvison De Los Santos back to Miami.

Since his arrival, Puk has been a dominant force, pitching to a 1.32 ERA and a 14.16 K/9 with the D-backs over 30 appearances post-deadline.

But considering the timing of his acquisition, Puk is entering his first Spring Training as a member of the D-backs at Salt River Fields. He first arrived on Monday.

"First time at this facility, and I was looking forward to getting to it. ... It's great. Everyone knows what this team's capable of, and everyone's good to work and continue to build off the past couple of seasons and get back to those playoffs and World Series.

"Definitely know we're here to win, and that's what we're planning on doing. As I was saying, everyone's showing this spring, real good attitudes, and it's exciting."

Puk said he's working on "playing around with a changeup" to add to his arsenal. While he has technically thrown the changeup throughout his career, it's never been a primary tool, and accounted for barely 1% of his pitches thrown in 2024.

"Just talking to [the coaches] this offseason, something that I want to play around with, and just add to that third pitch, just mess with the hitter some more, and that's just something to flash, so we'll see," he said.

It's not as if his arsenal is lacking. Puk already throws a high-90s fastball, a devastating slider/sweeper combo, a sinking fastball, and even the rare splitter. As previously mentioned, the changeup was registered, but only in a extremely small sample size.

But any amount of development can be a boost to even the best bullpen arms. Puk said it adds another dimension for the hitters to have to account for.

"You want those hitters to be in the scouting report [thinking about a] changeup, so that's just another thing I've got to think about, and just show a pitch moving the other way. Just gives them one more pitch to think about. We'll see. It's early, so we'll see if the coaching staff likes it or not.

"I've thrown plenty of different [grips] on the back [field], but definitely just trying to add something that's more comfortable."

While the D-backs have been looking to add a high-leverage reliever with closing experience, no such move has materialized as of this writing. That leaves the club with a few closer options, Puk included.

But the lefty said he's not concerned about winning the role. Rather, he just wants to win his matchups.

"At the end of the day, all I want to do is just win and get to the World Series and win a ring. Whatever those matchups are or whatever role they put me in, I'll be happy for it."

Regardless, Arizona's bullpen has gradually become a strength over the past pair of seasons, and most of that group remains intact ahead of 2025.

"[We've] definitely got basically the same core as last year, and it's pretty exciting to see what we did last year when I was just here for two months, and I'm definitely looking to build on that and continue this year," Puk said.

Stay tuned to Diamondbacks On SI for more up-to-the-minute Spring Training coverage.