
Phoenix — The Arizona Diamondbacks are hiring Ben Fritz as their lead pitching coach, bringing him over from the San Diego Padres to run the pitching staff for 2027.
First reported by Dennis Lin of The Athletic.
Fritz, 45, is a San Jose native who takes the job Brian Kaplan held. Kaplan is not returning for 2027.
The change comes after a season in which Arizona’s pitching got better in the second half, with the relievers doing a good job in September. The open question down the stretch was stamina — the stamina of some of the pitchers could fairly be questioned by September, and the Diamondbacks missed the postseason by one game.
Fritz has been in the Padres organization for more than a decade. He joined San Diego as a coach in 2015, working with the Arizona League Padres, then managed the Tri-City Dust Devils in 2016 and 2017. He served as the rehabilitation coordinator for the Padres’ Arizona complex in 2018 and 2019, was named the Padres’ bullpen coach after the 2019 season, and stepped up as San Diego’s pitching coach in August 2021 when the Padres fired Larry Rothschild.
As a player, Fritz was a first-round pick — the Oakland Athletics took him 30th overall in the 2002 draft out of Fresno State. He pitched in Oakland’s minor league system from 2002 through 2007, had Tommy John surgery in 2004, spent 2008 with Detroit after the Tigers selected him in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft, and finished his playing career with two seasons for the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League.
He now crosses over inside the National League West, from San Diego’s dugout to Arizona’s, as the Diamondbacks set their coaching staff for 2027.
Picture option: Fritz in the Padres dugout during his San Diego tenure (public, non-AP).
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