The Diamondbacks are promoting farm director Shaun Larkin to the major league staff as the third base coach, per Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. He will replace Tony Perezchica, who departed last month to take the third base job with the Astros.
Larkin, 45, played for Cleveland in the minors from 2002 to 2007, topping out at Triple-A without getting the call to the majors. Torey Lovullo coached and managed in the minor league system of that club during that time, later winding his way to managing the Diamondbacks. Larkin eventually pivoted to the non-playing portion of his career, spending eight years working with the Dodgers as a coach and coordinator in the minor leagues.
The Snakes plucked him away a year ago, hiring him as director of player development and reuniting him with Lovullo. It seems he and the organization have a good relationship, based on today’s news. “He’s always told us he wanted to get on the field,” Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen says, per Piecoro. “This has always been sort of the long-term plan. When T.P. left, this seemed like the right time, the right fit, to match everything up.”
Piecoro adds that Larkin was a candidate for a job in the Cardinals front office last month, prior to Perezchica’s departure, but Larkin ended up staying with the Diamondbacks and will now get to join a big league coaching staff.
Larkin’s previous job will be taken by Chris Slivka, who was his assistant this past year. “He’s got really good leadership skills and he’s got great relationships in the clubhouse,” Hazen says of Slivka. “This was always the long-term plan to have Chris be in a position to take over for Lark. It came a little quicker than we thought, but he’s ready for it. He’ll be great.” Piecoro notes that the 31-year-old Slivka started with the D’Backs as an intern nine years ago, moving to scouting and analyst roles in the years since.