The Arizona Diamondbacks made a significant move Thursday to bolster their bullpen ahead of the July 30 trade deadline.
The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported Thursday that the Diamondbacks acquired left-handed reliever A.J. Puk in a trade with the Miami Marlins in exchange for prospects Deyvison De Los Santos and Andrew Pintar.
Marlins getting IF Deyvison De Los Santos and OF Andrew Pintar from the Diamondbacks for A.J. Puk, source tells @TheAthletic. Team’s No. 14 and 30 prospects, per @MLBPipeline.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 26, 2024
The 29-year-old Puk appeared in 32 games for the Marlins this season, registering a 4.30 ERA and 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings with one save. He led Miami with 15 saves last season.
The No. 6 pick by the Oakland Athletics in the 2016 MLB draft, Puk has logged a 3.85 ERA and 228 strikeouts in 191 2/3 career innings pitched.
Puk is a big addition to Arizona's bullpen, which ranks 22nd in baseball with a 4.24 ERA and 27th in WHIP (1.37). He gives Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo a high-leverage left-handed arm that can set the table for closer Paul Sewald, who has converted 15 of 18 save opportunities this season.
Puk is under team control for two more seasons and is set to hit free agency in 2027.
The Diamondbacks paid a hefty price to acquire the lefty, however. De Los Santos is having a stellar year in the minors, batting .325/.376/.635 with 28 homers in 87 games split between Double-A and Triple-A. Pintar, a fifth-round pick in 2022, has logged an .852 OPS with 19 stolen bases in 69 games across three minor league levels, working his way up to Double-A this summer.
Arizona started off the 2024 campaign rather sluggish after making a surprise run to the 2023 World Series, but it is 30–18 since June and is within one game of the final NL wild-card spot.
The Puk trade marks the first notable move in the week leading up to the 2024 MLB trade deadline, which is set for July 30 at 6 p.m. ET.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Report: Diamondbacks Acquire A.J. Puk in Trade With Marlins.
