2025 Diamondbacks Player Reviews #40: Bryce Jarvis

• Rating: 4.18

• 2025 Stats: 12 G, 22 IP, 5.73 ERA, 4.50 FIP, 1.500 WHIP, 0.0 bWAR

• Date of Birth: December 26, 1997 (Entering age-28 season)

• 2025 Earnings: $772,300

• 2026 Status: Pre-arbitration

It’s pretty well documented that Mike Hazen has struggled to construct a consistent bullpen in his time with the D-Backs. The last time the team had an above-average bullpen by wins above average (WAA) was nearly a decade ago in 2017 – Hazen’s first season at the helm. Since then, we’ve seen an absolute cavalcade of relievers that have come and gone, via trade, free agency, or waiver claims. Some of that inconsistency is the inherent nature of relief pitchers who are more likely to succumb to year-over-year changes due to their smaller sample sizes and usage changes. But there’s also been quite a few missteps like Scott McGough’s inexplicable signing and some genuine bad luck like AJ Puk’s injury this season. So when a reliever emerges with some promise – as former first-rounder Bryce Jarvis did in 2023 – it’s worthy of a minor celebration.

After working his way into a starting role over of the course of his college career with Duke, the D-Backs mostly kept him as a starter in his first two years as a professional with mixed results across three levels – posting a 4.42 and 8.27 ERA in 2021 and 2022 respectively. But when he made his debut, the starting rotation was amazingly in decent shape while the bullpen continued to be a problem, prompting the front office to move him into a relief role instead and Jarvis took to it brilliantly, posting a 3.04 ERA in 11 games and 23.2 IP. Amazingly, he was even better the next year when he worked his way to a 3.19 ERA in 44 games and 59.1 IP – including appearing at least once in every inning on the season. Sadly, in the midst of a breakout season, an elbow strain cropped up that was originally described as relatively minor, but quickly cost the young righty the remainder of his season.

Even still, coming into 2025, there was plenty of reason for optimism surrounding Jarvis given his track record through his first two big league seasons. Instead, after breaking camp with the big league club, he was quickly optioned back to Reno before being recalled in June – a round trip he would make four total times on the season as he yo-yoed between the two all year. Inconceivably, despite his success as a reliever at the highest level, the team continued to keep him stretched out as a starter while out in Reno, but then continued to utilize him as a multi-inning reliever in the big leagues. I understand that maintaining additional starting depth is crucial for the team, but those seem like fundamentally different roles that changes how you approach the game. Unsurprisingly, given the number of setbacks he’d suffered, Jarvis struggled throughout the season with an 8.47 ERA in the inflated offensive environment of Reno and an unsightly 5.73 ERA in the majors. Most distressingly, the velocity on all of his pitches slipped between seasons – undoubtedly the result of his elbow injury from last year. That velocity decrease likely degraded the quality of his pitches and led to the elevated topline numbers.

Given the current depauperate state of the Arizona bullpen and the team control he possesses, Jarvis still has an inside track to a relief role for next season in some form or fashion. Obviously, the team hopes that another offseason of rest and rehabilitation will allow him to regain some of the velocity he lost between seasons. It’s also worth watching to see how the front office sees Jarvis’ role moving forward: is he a starter or is he a reliever (either single-inning or multi-inning)? There’s obviously plenty of positive track record for the righty and there’s more need than ever in the bullpen at the major league level. I find myself somewhat optimistic that this year was a fluke of concurrent struggles rather than a harbinger of worse results. Either way, it’ll be a fascinating part of next season to watch.