Diamondbacks’ Opening Day roster becomes clear, and there are no left-handed relievers

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks made roster decisions before Monday’s penultimate tuneup game against the Cleveland Guardians, clearing up what the bullpen and position player groups will look like.

Several points of interest from manager Torey Lovullo:

– The Diamondbacks have no lefties in the bullpen, as southpaw Brandyn Garcia will be optioned to Triple-A Reno. Juan Morillo, Andrew Hoffmann, Jonathan Loaisiga and Joe Ross made the team, joining Kevin Ginkel, Ryan Thompson, Taylor Clarke and Paul Sewald in the bullpen.

– Corbin Carroll is good to go and will start in right field on Opening Day six weeks after surgery to remove a broken hamate bone.

– Infielder Ildemaro Vargas made the team, earning the backup shortstop role. This became clear once the D-backs reassigned Jacob Amaya to minor league camp on Sunday. There are 12 position players on the active roster who won’t start the year on the injured list, and Vargas was the last man standing from the list of non-roster invitees. “All 13 of those guys are going to make the team,” Lovullo said.

– Whether Alek Thomas or Jordan Lawlar will get more reps in center field is to be determined. Lovullo said they could both get starts in that spot in the regular season.

– Lawlar was placed into the nine-hole in Monday’s lineup. That appears to be the spot for him entering the season.

No lefties in the Diamondbacks’ bullpen?

“We feel very comfortable with some reverse split guys that can go out there and attack left-hand hitters,” Lovullo said. “The reason for this decision, and this is what I told Brandyn, is that our main pillar is filling up the strike zone. I felt like that was a little inconsistent. … He’s going to be in our bullpen in no time. So that’s the reason.”

Morillo and Ginkel were two arms Lovullo pointed to who could go after lefties, and Hoffmann had reverse splits in the minor leagues, as well.

"The reason for this decision … our main pillar … is filling up the strikezone. I felt like that was a little inconsistent."

Torey Lovullo said the Diamondbacks made the decision to send Brandyn Garcia down, meaning the bullpen has no lefties entering the season. pic.twitter.com/UjmEzEMcPm

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) March 23, 2026

This creates a challenging situation, though. The Diamondbacks start the year with three games at the Los Angeles Dodgers, who roster some of the best left-handed hitters in the world: Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy.

“They’re good no matter what,” Lovullo said. “Left-handed matchup, right-handed matchup, they’re good no matter what.”

Ginkel allowed a .696 OPS against lefties last season and .829 versus righties. He does not have reverse splits for his career, but he’s fared well against lefties over the past four years.

For Morillo, it was a .761 OPS against lefties and .866 versus righties as a rookie last year. Hoffmann had a small sample size in the majors, but in the minor leagues lefties hit .218 off him compared to .273 from righties in 2025.

Garcia and Philip Abner represent Arizona’s left-handed relief depth without many other options. Southpaw A.J. Puk figures to take on a leverage role at some point after he returns from elbow surgery rehab, but that could be two or so months into the season.

Corbin Carroll returns to outfield

Carroll had a 9 next to his name in the lineup for the first time this spring on Monday, as he had yet to play defense in a major league game since the surgery. The plan was to push faster with his bat and slow play the defense, and that resulted in him taking 16 plate appearances in Cactus League before the Chase Field exhibition games.

Ildemaro Vargas is back

Vargas had a big spring, hitting .378 with six extra-base hits in 15 games. He played all four infield spots last season and provides versatility and a veteran presence for the club.

“I feel like when you are a bench player, you’ve got to be able to reverse velocity,” Lovullo said. “Walk up to the plate and hit 95-plus mph because that’s what you’re going to see late in the ballgame. He can handle that. He’s been coming on as a hitter and understanding what the at-bat is asking for.”

Lawlar, who moved to the outfield from the infield, has not received game reps at shortstop this spring, so the club needed to keep someone else who could man the position in a pinch.

With Vargas’ contract to be selected, that leaves the Diamondbacks with 13 healthy position players:

Catchers: Gabriel Moreno, James McCann

Infielders: Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte, Nolan Arenado, Pavin Smith, Carlos Santana, Ildemaro Vargas, Tim Tawa

Outfielders: Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, Jordan Lawlar, Jorge Barrosa

Jordan Lawlar, batting 9th?

Lawlar will be in charge of getting on base for the Perdomo-Marte-Carroll trio atop the lineup, a role Perdomo found success in until he graduated to the top of the order last year.

“I want somebody on base with Marte, Carroll and Perdomo coming to the plate for sure,” Lovullo said. 

Lawlar reached base at a .444 clip this spring and .364 in September. He put together a promising spring training with an improved approach that allowed him to draw walks and crush pitches in the zone, even breaking balls.

The lineup on Monday, for an idea of what it could look like early this season, went as follows:

2B Ketel Marte
RF Corbin Carroll
SS Geraldo Perdomo
3B Nolan Arenado
C Gabriel Moreno
DH Pavin Smith
1B Carlos Santana
CF Alek Thomas
LF Jordan Lawlar

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