Diamondbacks remove coach from role after Wednesday’s struggles

The Arizona Diamondbacks have removed Shaun Larkin from his duties as the team’s third base coach, manager Torey Lovullo announced following Wednesday’s 3-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports reported.

Larkin will continue coaching infielders, while the organization will reassign his third base responsibilities as it evaluates internal and external candidates for the role.

Larkin, 45, was in his first season as an on-field coach with Arizona, having replaced longtime third base coach Tony Perezchica, who departed for the Houston Astros during the offseason. Before joining the major league staff, Larkin served as the Diamondbacks’ director of player development in 2024. He had limited experience coaching third base at the major league level, which Lovullo acknowledged when discussing the decision.

“Shaun’s taken on a lot. It’s a big responsibility over there at third base,” Lovullo said. “I’ve tried to express to you guys the difficulties of it, but at this point in time, I just feel like the best thing for this ballclub, for him, and for us moving forward is to make this decision. He hadn’t ever coached third base before at this level and probably hadn’t done it in quite some time. So we were going to give him a little bit of a runway, but it has just gotten to the point where I needed to make this decision.”

Throughout the 2025 season, Larkin’s risky decisions at third base sent several runners out at home or held them up when scoring appeared likely, drawing heavy criticism from fans.

The final catalyst for his removal occurred during Wednesday’s contest when Larkin sent Alek Thomas home in the fifth inning despite Guardians center fielder Angel Martinez falling on the play. Thomas tried to score, but Larkin’s decision sent him into a tag, and the Arizona runners failed to bring in a run in the frame. The Diamondbacks have already had 18 runners thrown out at home this season, trailing only the Tampa Bay Rays (24) and the Philadelphia Phillies (19) in that category.

Lovullo also cited other instances where Larkin hindered scoring opportunities, such as when he held Jake McCarthy at third base over the weekend in Colorado on a play Lovullo estimated would have scored 70% of the time.

The search for a replacement is underway, with the team considering both internal and external candidates.

Lovullo stressed the urgency of the decision with just five weeks remaining in the season, saying, “We have some internal candidates. We have some extra candidates. I’ve been in the game a long time. I know a lot of really good baseball people. Mike [Hazen] does, [bench coach Jeff Banister] does. The inner circle of people that are making the decision clearly do. We’re going to reach beyond that. We gotta figure this out pretty quick.”

Larkin played college baseball at Cal State Northridge and then pursued a Minor League Baseball career after the Cleveland Indians selected him in the ninth round of the 2002 MLB Draft. Since retiring as a player in 2006, he has held coaching and front office roles, which resulted in his promotion to Arizona’s major league staff in November 2024.