Closer Shake-Up in Arizona?

We've had Greg Aquino penciled in as the D-Backs' closer all spring - but as Steve Gilbert notes at the Diamondbacks' official site, Aquino has had some injury issues this spring that may have opened the door for Brandon Lyon to assume the closer role.

In his first appearance of the spring, Aquino suffered a strained flexor mass in his pitching elbow which put him on the shelf for two weeks. Since his return, Aquino has gotten knocked around pretty badly, to the tune of a 10.13 ERA over 5 1/3 innings. Granted, it's a small sample size, and yes, he struck out 8 men during those 5 1/3 innings, but still, a 10.13 ERA makes one wonder if he's OK, I guess.

D-Backs manager Bob Melvin discussed the team's apprehension with pitching Aquino on consecutive days:

"We want to feel good about him and I don't want to run him out there in a role that he's uncomfortable with, too... we want him to be confident. On Opening Day, we want our closer to have success and feel good about himself."

In the meantime, Brandon Lyon has been scary good all spring, allowing only 4 hits and 1 run over 12 innings, (a 0.75 ERA), while striking out 13 men and walking zero. (Plus, he's probably available on your fantasy league's waiver wire.)

If Lyon has some early success as closer, he may not relinquish the role, even after Aquino fully recovers from his injuries. Which would be ironic, because Aquino's success while filling in for the injured Jose Valverde and Matt Mantei is how he wound up with the job in the first place.

As always, we'll keep you posted.