Arizona Diamondbacks news and rumors today. The Arizona Diamondbacks quietly continued shaping the back end of their pitching depth last week by bringing back right-handed reliever on a minor league agreement, a move first noted by Arizona Sports.
While the deal does not guarantee him a spot on the Opening Day roster, it almost certainly comes with a non-roster invitation to Spring Training, giving Curtiss another opportunity to compete for a role in the major league bullpen as camp unfolds.
This signing represents a reunion of sorts, as Curtiss will be returning to Arizona Diamondbacks for what will effectively be his second stint with the organization. He initially joined the club during the 2025 season but elected free agency earlier this offseason after Arizona placed him on waivers.
Rather than letting that be the end of the relationship, the Diamondbacks circled back and brought him into the fold once again, signaling that the organization still sees some value in his arm as it continues to search for stability and depth in its relief corps.
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Curtiss, now 32 years old, ended up spending a significant portion of the second half of last season on the Diamondbacks’ active roster. Arizona selected his contract from the minor leagues toward the end of June, at a time when the bullpen was dealing with injuries and inconsistency.
From that point forward, Curtiss was asked to handle a fairly steady workload, logging 36 2/3 innings at the major league level. Over those appearances, he posted a 3.93 earned run average, a respectable figure that reflected his ability to keep the team competitive in many of his outings.
In addition to the surface-level run prevention numbers, Curtiss also contributed in a few situational roles that added value to the bullpen. He recorded three holds over the course of the season, often being deployed in the middle to late innings when the Diamondbacks were trying to protect narrow leads.
He even notched a save late in the year, marking his first save at the big league level since the 2020 season. While he was not typically viewed as a traditional closer option, that moment highlighted the level of trust the coaching staff occasionally placed in him when circumstances demanded it.
From a workload perspective, the 2025 campaign was notable for Curtiss. It represented his heaviest usage in the majors in four years, a meaningful milestone for a pitcher who has dealt with interruptions and fluctuating roles throughout his career. Simply staying healthy and available for that many innings was a positive development, both for Curtiss personally and for a Diamondbacks bullpen that often needed reliable arms just to get through games.
That said, a deeper look at the underlying performance metrics paints a more nuanced picture. While Curtiss’ ERA was solid, his ability to miss bats remained limited. He struck out just 17 percent of the hitters he faced, a relatively low rate by modern bullpen standards, particularly for a pitcher who was sometimes asked to work in higher-pressure situations. His swinging-strike rate came in at nine percent, further underscoring that he was more of a contact-oriented reliever than a power arm capable of overpowering hitters late in games.
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Velocity-wise, Curtiss’ fastball generally sat in the 94 miles-per-hour range, which is adequate but not exceptional for a right-handed reliever in today’s game. To complement that heater, he relied heavily on a cutter in the low 90s as his primary secondary offering. That pitch allowed him to generate weak contact at times, especially against right-handed hitters, but it was not always enough to bail him out when command wavered or when hitters were able to square him up.
As the season wore on, Curtiss was occasionally thrust into leverage situations that were probably not an ideal fit for his skill set. Injuries and a lack of depth forced the Arizona Diamondbacks news and rumors to stretch their bullpen options, and Curtiss found himself pitching in spots where a higher strikeout profile might have been more effective. In those moments, he was somewhat miscast, not because he lacked effort or competitiveness, but because his style of pitching does not naturally lend itself to consistently escaping jams with runners on base.
Looking ahead to Spring Training, however, Curtiss still has a realistic path to earning a role as a middle reliever if he performs well. The Diamondbacks’ bullpen picture remains unsettled, and opportunity could present itself quickly. Both A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez are expected to begin the season on the injured list, thinning out the group of established relief options available early in the year. Their absences alone create openings for pitchers on minor league deals to make a case for themselves.
Compounding that situation is the fact that Arizona has not yet made any major league additions to a bullpen that clearly needs reinforcement. By most evaluations, the team requires at least two new arms capable of handling leverage innings, whether that comes through internal development, spring competition, or late free-agent additions. Until those needs are addressed, the door remains open for pitchers like Curtiss to slide into meaningful roles if they show they can be dependable.
The Diamondbacks have taken a low-risk approach to building bullpen depth this winter, bringing in several arms on minor league contracts rather than committing guaranteed money. Among those additions are Isaiah Campbell and Junior Fernández, both of whom will also compete in camp for a chance to crack the roster. Curtiss now finds himself in that same mix, part of a group of veterans and fringe major leaguers all fighting for limited spots.
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For Curtiss, the appeal of returning to Arizona likely lies in familiarity and opportunity. He already knows the coaching staff, the clubhouse environment, and what the organization expects from him. That comfort level can be valuable in Spring Training, where small adjustments and consistent outings can make the difference between breaking camp with the big league club or starting the year in Triple-A.
From the team’s perspective, re-signing Curtiss costs very little while offering a measure of insurance. If he can replicate something close to last season’s effectiveness—keeping runs off the board, throwing strikes, and absorbing innings when needed—he could once again serve as a useful piece in the middle innings. Even if he ultimately does not make the Opening Day roster, having him in the system provides depth that can be called upon as the long season inevitably tests the bullpen.
In the end, Curtiss’ return to the Diamondbacks is emblematic of the kind of marginal but important moves teams make every offseason. He is not a headline-grabbing acquisition, nor is he a guaranteed contributor.
Instead, he represents a familiar arm with a known floor, someone who has shown he can survive at the major league level even if his ceiling is limited. As Spring Training approaches, Curtiss will have another chance to prove that he belongs, while Arizona continues the ongoing process of piecing together a bullpen capable of supporting its broader competitive goals in the coming season.
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