Arizona Diamondbacks 2024 Player Review: A.J. Puk

The tall left-hander surpassed expectations in his few months with the D-backs following his trade to the desert

Sep 3, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher A.J. Puk (33) throws against the San Francisco Giants during the seventh inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images / John Hefti-Imagn Images

This article is part of a series chronicling the individual seasons of players who appeared for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2024.

Reviews for players who still have rookie eligibility for 2025 will appear in our prospect season reviews. Players are presented in the reverse order of their aWAR, an average of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs WAR.

A.J. Puk, Left-Handed Reliever, Age: 29

2024 Contract Status: $1.8 MM, split between Miami and Arizona

The stats for A.J. Puk during his time with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2024 and for his entire career. / Jake Oliver

A few days before the MLB Trade Deadline in 2024, General Manager Mike Hazen acquired left-handed late-game reliever A.J. Puk from the Miami Marlins for prospects Deyvison De Los Santos and Andrew Pintar. That price so far has been worth the cost for the talented Puk.

In 32 games before the trade with the Marlins, Puk had a 4.30 ERA over 44 innings with a 3.64 FIP, 23 walks, and 45 strikeouts. That ERA was elevated due to the Marlins' attempt to turn Puk back into a starting pitcher at the beginning of 2024, which failed badly.

Once Puk was put back in the bullpen, he resumed dominating hitters and overwhelming them with his upper 90s fastball and devastating slider. The hope was that he could both stabilize the late innings and be the lefty-killer.

It was apparent from the first pitch he threw with the D-backs how much he was going to help their bullpen and become a legitimate 8th and 9th inning weapon for Manager Torey Lovullo.

Puk pitched three scoreless innings over three games before encountering difficulty in his lone third of an inning in which he gave up one run against the Pirates. That would be the only run he gave up for months.

From his debut on July 27 to September 27, two months, Puk pitched in 29 games and threw 27 innings. The D-backs went 21-8 in the games he pitched. He recorded an ERA of 0.33 with a FIP of 0.65, 12 hits, five walks, the aforementioned run, and 43 strikeouts.

He was a strikeout machine that recorded two saves and seven holds and consistently put up spotless or scoreless innings that kept Arizona ahead in the game.

Puk struck out almost half of the 99 batters he faced while limiting opponents to just a .129 batting average and .375 OPS. He pummeled the strike zone with 70% of his pitches for strikes. It was one of the best two month stretches for any D-backs reliever ever.

Unfortunately for Puk and Arizona, he faltered in his final game of the season. In a must-win game against the Padres, he entered a scoreless game in the 9th inning. He lasted just 0.1 innings as he gave up three runs, three hits, and two home runs. It was a devastating blow to Arizona's playoff chances.

It was a somber ending to what had been a terrific couple of months with Arizona. But even with the rough finish, Puk still had a 1.32 ERA, 1.63 FIP, 2.01 xFIP, and 43 strikeouts against five walks in 27.1 innings. It set the stage for a great next couple of seasons in the desert.

2025 and Beyond

2025 Contract status: 2nd Year Arbitration Eligible Est. $2.6 MM

A.J. Puk will be back with the Arizona Diamondbacks for his age-30 season and first full season with the team. He will experience his first Spring Training at Salt River Fields and Opening Day as one of the top arms in the team's bullpen.

There is no reason to expect Puk to do anything but well out of the bullpen. While it would be foolhardy to expect him to be just as dominant for his first 29 games in Arizona, he should be a quality and dependable arm that can continue to pitch the 8th and 9th innings. That's exactly what he was acquired to be and he will fulfill that job duty, provided he is healthy.

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