Torey Lovullo chose familiarity when it came to the Diamondbacks’ bullpen construction this season.
Lovullo, who is entering his third season as Diamondbacks manager, named veteran right-hander Greg Holland as the team’s closer for the 2019 season. Subsequently, this puts right-handers Archie Bradley and Yoshihisa Hirano into their respective roles from last season as setup men.
For the Diamondbacks, it is the second consecutive season in which they have put a newly acquired, veteran right-hander into the closer’s role. Last season it was Brad Boxberger, he of the 4.39 ERA in 2018.
Bradley, who was roughed up a bit this spring and is coming off a down season in 2018, has been consistently diplomatic over the years in saying that he does not have a preference when and how he is deployed as a pitcher; he only cares about getting outs.