Making official what was expected from the moment they acquired him from the White Sox this offseason, the Diamondbacks announced that Addison Reed will begin the season in the closer role.
J.J. Putz also has previous closing experience and David Hernandez certainly has the raw stuff to pitch the ninth inning, but Reed saved 40 games for the White Sox last season as a 24-year-old and the Diamondbacks gave up a lot to get him in top-100 prospect Matt Davidson.
Looking beyond his big save totals Reed hasn’t actually pitched all that well, posting a 4.17 ERA in 136 career appearances while allowing 13 homers and a .243 batting average in 134 innings. His strikeout rate has been good but not great for a closer and he’s a fly-ball pitcher heading to another home ballpark that boosts homers, although switching to the NL should help.