SAN FRANCISCO -- Jordan Lawlar is back in the big leagues.
The Diamondbacks' top prospect and the No. 4 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline was recalled from Triple-A Reno on Monday and joined the team in San Francisco for the opener of a three-game set against the Giants.
Here are some answers to questions you might have about the move.
How did they make room for him?
Infielder/outfielder Garrett Hampson was designated for assignment.
What is Lawlar’s path to playing time?
There is not a clear route to everyday playing time for Lawlar right now with Eugenio Suárez at third, Geraldo Perdomo at shortstop and Ketel Marte at second.
"It’s not going to be every day," Arizona general manager Mike Hazen said.
Instead, Hazen said, it is likely that Lawlar would get three to four starts a week playing some third, short and second. That would mean more days off for Suárez and Perdomo and some DH at-bats for Marte.
"We’re comfortable with that,” Hazen said.
How did the other infielders take the news of possibly an extra day off each week?
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said he talked with both Perdomo and Marte about the move already and was preparing to speak with Suárez on Monday.
"I told them that they're going to get days off,” Lovullo said. “They know it's coming. I want everybody to have a champion mindset. I want them to understand that there's a reason why. It doesn't mean anybody's getting benched. Nobody's getting benched. Geraldo Perdomo is still our everyday shortstop. I want them to understand that there's a reason for it, and we've got to see how it works and we're getting a really good player that's going to be in there on any given day that's going to be able to give us a chance to win baseball games, and that's the most important thing.”
How does Lawlar feel about moving around to different positions?
It’s no longer something that is unfamiliar to him, as he was bounced around from third base to shortstop to second base with Triple-A Reno.
"Obviously ecstatic,” Lawlar said of getting the callup. “I told Torey and everybody, I just want to be here and help the team win any way, method that I can be called on to do. I enjoyed [moving positions]. I mean, I've enjoyed kind of getting the different views -- second, third -- switching it up a little bit. It's fun to check out the different sides of the diamond. Whenever they call on me, that’s what I’m going to do and I just want to help the team win.”
Why was the timing right to call him up now?
Lawlar didn’t get the call early in April when Marte went down with a hamstring injury because he simply hadn’t played much second base and the team didn’t want him to have to learn the new position in the big leagues.
While he’s cooled off a bit at the plate recently, Lawlar has shown the team that he deserved to be up.
"We wanted to make sure that he was comfortable handling all three of those positions and get some at-bats,” Hazen said. “We did not have a perfect number of at-bats that we needed him to get but we wanted him playing every day. I also feel like at some point we're also required to put the 26 best players in our organization on our team. Especially since we have gone out and said that every day matters. And clearly in the National League, every day is going to matter.”
How did Lawlar handle waiting to get the call?
Lawlar made his big league debut in September of 2023 and was on the team’s postseason roster right up through the World Series that year. Injuries prevented him playing in the Majors last season and there was not a path to the Opening Day roster this year.
Lawlar tried to put all that out of his mind while he was dominating Triple-A pitching.
"Just really stay in the moment,” Lawlar said. “And come to the field with a plan, knowing what I want to get better at every day. And I did that down there, and that's what I'm going to continue to do here. And just really live in the moment, honestly and not get too far ahead, too far behind. Focus on what's now.”
For Lawlar and the Diamondbacks, the future is now.