Kevin Towers built a dominant bullpen in San Diego and he’d like to do the same in Arizona. The D’Backs GM is looking to upgrade his bullpen by acquiring a shutdown seventh inning arm to complement David Hernandez and J.J. Putz, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
Heath Bell, Mike Adams and Luke Gregerson are dominant in San Diego and Towers likes the idea of creating a similar trio in Arizona, where Putz and Hernandez have been tremendous so far. Those two, plus lesser-known pickups like Rule 5 pick Joe Paterson, have helped the D’Backs lower their bullpen ERA from 5.74 in 2010 to 3.26 this year (a transformation I examined in detail last month).
The D’Backs like their offense and are confident that their rotation will keep them in games, so they’re focusing on the ‘pen. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes wrote this week that Towers "should be proactive in adding reinforcements" because Putz has to be used carefully and Hernandez has walked 5.7 batters per nine innings.
