Arizona Diamondbacks: Bullpen in flux in the midst of playoff chase

The Arizona Diamondbacks have taken an unusual approach as the playoffs draw near – they’ve completely thrown a wrench into their bullpen makeup.

The Arizona Diamondbacks removed closer Brad Boxberger from the role after a rough series with the Atlanta Braves, but in an unusual step, they completely have gone away from bullpen roles altogether.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are currently in a 3-way race in the National League West. Their competitors, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies, have had their own bullpen woes this season, but the lack of definition of roles in the Diamondbacks this late in the season is very unique.

However, that doesn’t mean that the Diamondbacks will necessarily struggle in their new setup, and they have the type of bullpen that could actually be a tremendous example for redesign of the current mold of what a bullpen looks like. We will take a look at why the Diamondbacks may be uniquely positioned to use a new bullpen model.

The old model

Many teams have begun to chip away at the “old” bullpen model in recent years. The use of Andrew Miller for multiple innings by the Cleveland Indians in 2016 was a great example. The AL Wild Card game pitched nearly entirely by dominant relievers going 1-3 innings for the New York Yankees in 2017 was another chip.

This season has seen a major upheaval in the regular season with the Tampa Bay Rays using their “opener” strategy. Just this week, on September 11th, the Los Angeles Angels took a no-hitter into the 8th inning using a “reliever” game, finish off the game with 8 pitchers combining to toss a shutout, no one even completing 2 innings on the day!

What could the Diamondbacks do to be different? Let’s take a look…