Jalen Beeks has been the unsung hero of the Diamondbacks' bullpen

With injuries affecting the bullpen, the Diamondbacks quickly signed left-hander Jalen Beeks just hours before Opening Day. Beeks was available after failing to make the Houston Astros' bullpen this spring, and with Kendall Graveman and Kevin Ginkel headed for the injured list, the team needed a capable arm to provide innings.

"I didn't know much about him," said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo. "I remember seeing highlights of him in years past. From the first outing until the last one yesterday, he's been fantastic for us, he's gotten us out of some really big situations."

Beeks has been a great pickup for the Diamondbacks' bullpen. He's appeared in five games so far, allowing just one run in 7.1 innings with eight strikeouts and two walks. His lone mistake came in the team's third game of the series when he served up a home run to Matt Shaw in a 4-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Beeks has taken on a role as the stabilizer in the front end of the bullpen. In all five of his appearances, he's entered the game with the Diamondbacks trailing by multiple runs, tasked with keeping the game close and give the offense a chance to catch up. One such example came on April 1, when Arizona came back from down 4-2 to win 7-5.

While the sample size is relatively short, with just a total of 105 pitches, there are a lot of encouraging underlying stats for Beeks. His 1.23 ERA is supported by a 1.28 xERA, which factors in the quality of contact allowed, along with his strikeout (29.6%) and walk (7.4%) rates.

He does that by inducing chases out of the zone for whiffs and weak contact. His 43.1% chase rate ranks in the 96th percentile amongst major league pitchers, leading to a solid 30.6% whiff rate and an excellent 64.7% ground ball rate.

One of the big changes Beeks has made is throwing his changeup and cutter more. The cutter, in particular, has seen a drastic increase in usage from a seldom-used offering three seasons ago to over 25%. The changeup has also seen a resurgence, going up to 41.9% to start the 2025.

The change in usage is something that pitching coach Brian Kaplan found Beeks was doing in 2022. That season, he was primarily a fastball/changeup pitcher, accounting for 97% of his pitches. That season, he was 2-3 with a 2.80 ERA in 61 innings with Tampa Bay.

"I can't say enough good things about our pitching coaches, and it starts with Kap. He's teaching me things that I haven't even thought about in my career as a manager. He's able to share that information and the fact he's given it to Beeks and talked to him about the things that makes him successful in his translating is really impressive but not totally surprising."

Beeks can still rush it up to 93-95 MPH to change speeds on hitters. His fastball plays above its measured velocity thanks to hiding the ball behind his back and the vertical shape, but he's been relying more on his secondary pitches to get hitters out this season, with the fastball down to just 32.4%.

The results have shown that has been the right plan of attack for Beeks. The changeup is his best swing-and-miss offering, with a 34.5% whiff rate and a putaway rate of 31.6%. Batters have yielded an average exit velocity of 71.6 MPH in the early portion of the season.

The cutter hasn't yielded the same results in terms of strikeouts despite a 38.5% whiff rate, but has induced weak contact with an average exit velocity of 73.2 MPH.

The Diamondbacks will have to make some tough decisions with their bullpen once Ginkel and Graveman are ready to resume their roles in the back of the bullpen. With the way Beeks has performed up to this point through the season, he's earned a role down there.