PHOENIX -- One thing is clear about the back end of the D-backs' bullpen: Fernando Rodney will do the closing.
"We all know Fernando Rodney is our closer," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "He's going to get the ninth inning every single time he is available."
While the standard operating procedure in recent years has been to designate seventh- and eighth-inning relievers, the game has been evolving into one that emphasizes more flexibility from the relievers.
"We're going to have back-end guys and front-end guys," Lovullo said. "And those back-end guys are going to get the ball and hand it off to Fernando Rodney, so there's really no clear definition as to who's going to get the eighth and who's going to get the seventh.