Torey Lovullo Explains Diamondbacks' Surprising Bullpen Change

The revolving door of Arizona Diamondbacks minor leaguers getting a chance to pitch in the major leagues this year has continued to swing, even up until the last homestand of the season.

Diamondbacks Call Up Philip Abner, Option Kyle Backhus

As reported earlier on these pages, the Diamondbacks made a surprising bullpen roster move, selecting the contract of 23-year-old lefty Philip Abner and optioning 27-year-old rookie Kyle Backhus back to Triple-A Reno.

Once he makes his first appearance, Abner will be the 41st pitcher and 11th rookie to pitch for the Diamondbacks this year. That will tie the franchise record for pitchers used in a season, set in 2021.

Abner pitched across three levels in the minor leagues this year, his most recent eight outings all scoreless, coming in the run-rich environment of Reno in the PCL. Through it all, he pitched to a 3.07 ERA in 59 innings.

Backhus made his major league debut earlier this year and got off to a good start, but then began to struggle. In 32 games, 25.1 innings he posted a 4.62 ERA and 4.25 FIP. He recorded two saves, with two blown, and 10 holds.

Torey Lovullo Explains Diamondbacks' Roster Move

"We're slicing this pie as thinly as we possibly can," Lovullo said.

"Kyle had come up here and captivated us and did a really nice job. But then there were some bumps in the road with the consistency of this stuff, especially against right-handed batters."

Right-hand batters raked to the tune of a .365 batting average and .988 OPS against Backhus. 74 of the 115 batters he faced were right-handed. With the three-batter minimum, it was difficult to change that ratio more in Backhus' favor.

Lovullo said, "With some of the matchups and the intensity of these games, you're probably not going to get that left-right-left matchup that you're going to forecast. And you're going to walk into probably a pinch-hitter or two."

Abner, meanwhile, is someone who has been on Lovullo's radar for a while. Whether it be throughout discussions with Director of Player Development Chris Slivka (who he downloads with once a month) or other front office members, Lovullo saw Abner coming.

"I kept hearing the name pop up, and sure enough, when it happened, I understood the reason why.

"He blasted through the system, good matchup guy, good angle, can attack lefties and righties, and we just felt like it was a good opportunity for him to come here and get us some outs," Lovullo said.

Abner is a strike-thrower, having struck out 70 while walking just 16, a 2.5 per nine innings ratio.

"He told us his number one thing was just throwing strikes, and then you could also tell also he's like, it doesn't matter who's at the plate for me. I love that."

Lovullo has had to manage through so many young pitchers, and he's been throwing all of them into the deep end of the pool, in part out of necessity.

"When you come here as a young player from player development, you're not here as a Sunday helper to help out on a day game when everybody's tired and there's nobody left to pitch but you.

"You come here, be ready to go, because our player development and our mindset with young players are that you have to be here to help us win baseball games immediately when you walk in the door."

The Diamondbacks will surely be relying on Abner to help with some of the Phillies top left-handed hitters this weekend, such as Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber. Go get em kid!

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