The San Diego Padres are losing a key coach ahead of the 2027 season.

Pitching coach Ben Fritz, who's been with the Padres organization since 2015 and on the major-league staff since 2020, has agreed to a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks to become their lead pitching coach, according to The Athletic.

Fritz has been the Padres' bullpen coach with Ruben Niebla as the lead pitching coach. Now, Fritz will get a better title — and seemingly a raise — to join the National League West rival.

Fritz has been the Padres' bullpen coach for the last seven years. He was briefly the team's interim pitching coach in 2021 before Niebla was hired.

Last offseason, Fritz attracted pitching coach opportunities from other teams. To ensure they kept him, the Padres reportedly gave him a raise.

A year later, Fritz had the opportunity to speak to other teams for their pitching coach roles this offseason. According to the Athletic, Fritz also interviewed with the Colorado Rockies before accepting the job with the Diamondbacks.

Padres Will Miss Ben Fritz in 2027

Padres players have raved about Fritz in the past. Additionally, manager Craig Stammen detailed his impact on the club earlier this year.

“We like to use our bullpen a lot here," Stammen said in July. "[Fritz's] job is control. He’s very good at reading body language. He knows when a guy needs a day or a second day. That’s kind of helped us keep most of these guys healthy.”

The Padres relied on their bullpen for 683.2 innings in 2026, which was the fourth-most in MLB and second-most in the National League. The team's bullpen ERA of 3.53 ranked fifth in MLB and third in the NL.

Padres Were Hoping Their Entire Coaching Staff Would Return in 2027

At his end-of-season presser, Stammen was hopeful that the team's entire coaching staff would return next year.

“We expect a majority, if not all of them, to be back,” Stammen said at the time. “And a lot of that depends on contract stuff and offers from other teams and all that kind of stuff. We’ll have ongoing conversation here over the next couple weeks, but we hope to have everybody back.”

Now, the Padres will have to replace Fritz — as well as their many free agents — this offseason.

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