Fresh off Tommy John surgery, Justin Martinez bolsters the Arizona Diamondbacks bullpen while outfielder Jordan Lawlar also makes his return.
Reinforcements are officially on the way for the Arizona Diamondbacks as they just reinstated a pair of players from the injured list.
Headlining that list is relief pitcher Justin Martinez, someone fresh off Tommy John surgery who hasn't appeared in the big leagues since June 9, 2025.
It's been over a year since Martinez last pitched for the D-backs, but he'll be rejoining the team alongside outfielder Jordan Lawlar.
Lawlar's injury was nowhere near as serious, and now the hamstring issues are behind the 24-year-old.
Breaking down Martinez's long-awaited return
This is a Diamondbacks team that thought they had everything figured out with Paul Sewald as their closer, but a rough stretch left them no choice but to designate him for assignment.
Now, Martinez is back into the fold, and it'll be interesting to see where manager Torey Lovullo places him. The 25-year-old is officially in his fourth year at the major league level. He's made all 91 of his appearances out of the bullpen and has 14 saves alongside 13 holds.
Martinez has just three blown saves, and all three of those have come in his last two seasons. Remember, this is a guy who appeared in 64 games for the D-backs during the 2024 season. They know they'll get nowhere near that sort of production out of him in 2026, but it's more about keeping him healthy and easing him back into things.
Arizona's bullpen has been a topic of discussion for quite some time, but now they get back a strong relief pitcher who carries a career 3.77 ERA.
Lawlar must pick up where he left off
His 2026 sample size is quite small, but Lawlar was slashing .316/.409/.447 during his 38 at-bats this season. No one expects Lawlar to be in the everyday lineup putting up those numbers, but there's room to believe he put a pair of negative WAR seasons behind him.
The third-year big leaguer hit his first career home run this season, and he's already just one RBI shy of matching his total from his first two seasons combined.
Lawlar has already stolen one more base than he did in 2023 and 2025 combined, so it's just a matter of this organization getting him to put everything together and truly reach his potential.
What were the corresponding moves?
A few hours after announcing the addition of Dennis Santana and designating Philip Abner for assignment, Arizona was quite busy with these two returns.
Right-handed pitcher Gerardo Carrillo and infielder Tyler Locklear were optioned to Triple-A Reno, while the odd man out in the equation was right-handed pitcher Andrew Hoffmann, who was designated for assignment.
