Juan Morillo earns second save this year

This game was started by Taylor Clarke, who recorded the first five outs before six relievers combined to finish the shutout. The save was the third of the year for Morillo, who now has each of the past two for Arizona. Since Paul Sewald recorded his final save for the team, Morillo and Kevin Ginkel each have two, while Brandyn Garcia has three. In other words, this is a closer-by-committee that hasn’t even factored in Justin Martinez. It’s a situation to keep an eye on in case anyone consolidates ninth-inning chances down the stretch.

Sewald will pitch in lower-leverage situations in the short-term while the Diamondbacks use a closer by committee. Brandyn Garcia got the save on Wednesday, but Lovullo also mentioned that it could be Juan Morillo, Jonathan Loaisiga, or Kevin Ginkel in future save opportunities. Our best guess would be some sort of committee with Garcia and Morillo at the heart of it. Of course, Justin Martinez could come back at some point in August and join the fold.

Both Morillo and Paul Sewald pitched on Tuesday, and Morillo actually threw more pitches, but the Diamondbacks went with him to close the door in extra innings here. We wouldn’t read into this. It’s likely just an opportunity to give Sewald, who has dealt with injuries in recent seasons, an extra day off. Sewald remains the league leader in saves, but it’s nice to know that it would likely be Morillo who gets a shot if Sewald were to be sidelined.

The hard-throwing Morillo is one of the candidates to close for Arizona this year, but he had some tough luck today, giving up five hits on one hard liner, two soft liners and two groundballs. Morillo had pitched two scoreless innings coming in, and this one won’t affect his spring ERA, thankfully.

Morillo returns to the big leagues prior to Monday’s contest against the Giants. The 26-year-old righty has posted a pedestrian 4.55 ERA across 31 2/3 innings over 38 appearances this season at the big-league level.

Morillo returns to the minors after compiling a serviceable 4.55 ERA across 31 2/3 innings (38 appearances). The 26-year-old hurler figures to return at some point in mid-to-late September.

Morillo, in his first appearance since he was recalled from Triple-A on Monday, took the mound in the bottom of the ninth to close out the game after the Diamondbacks took a one-run lead in the top of the inning. He tossed a clean frame, inducing a line out and two ground outs to convert his first save of the season. Expect Arizona to utilize a committee for save chances. Still, Morillo could be in that mix going forward.

Morillo will get another chance after posting a 4.94 ERA over 27 1/3 innings in earlier stints in the Arizona pen this year. The walk-prone 26-year-old figures to work in middle relief, but one good week is enough to get anyone an elevated role in a bullpen lacking quality late-game options.

Morillo was torched for four runs on five hits over his lone inning of work on Saturday against the Angels. The 26-year-old righty has posted a pedestrian 4.94 ERA and 28/16 K/BB ratio across 27 1/3 innings (31 appearances) this season. The Diamondbacks will make a corresponding roster move following the All-Star break.

Morillo joins Arizona’s bullpen on Monday with closer Shelby Miller hitting the injured list with a forearm strain. He has a 3.91 ERA over 29 appearances for the Diamondbacks in 2025, as well as a 1.23 ERA in 7.1 innings for Reno. Morillo isn’t expected to be part of the closer committee in Arizona in Shelby Miller’s absence.