D-backs name Shaun Larkin as Director, Player Development and promote Chris Slivka to Assistant Director, Player Development

The Arizona Diamondbacks named Shaun Larkin as Director, Player Development and promoted Chris Slivka to Assistant Director, Player Development.

Larkin, 44, has 13 years of coaching and player development experience in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Guardians systems. He spent the last 8 seasons (2016-23) with the Dodgers in various roles, most recently serving as the Field Coordinator (since November 2020) as well as Assistant Field Coordinator (September 2019-November 2020) and Coordinator, Skill Development (September 2015-September 2019). Larkin also had two coaching stints in the Cleveland system from 2007-08 and 2013-15, serving as Manager at Low-A Lake County in 2015, Hitting Coach at Low-A Lake County in 2014 and Hitting Coach at Short-Season A Mahoning Valley in 2013. He spent 2007-08 at Cleveland's Double-A affiliate, Akron, assisting management and the coaching staff with player development and serving as the team's First Base Coach. Larkin also has coaching experience in the collegiate coaching ranks at his alma mater, Cal State Northridge, in 2011-12 and Orange Coast College in 2010.

Larkin spent parts of 6 seasons in Cleveland's Minor League system from 2002-06 as their ninth-round pick in the 2002 draft. He has his master's degree in performance psychology from National University and his bachelor's degree in communication studies from Cal State Northridge, where he played collegiately.

Slivka, 30, will be entering his ninth season with the D-backs, most recently serving as a Player Personnel Analyst the last 2 seasons. He has also spent time as a pro scout (2019-21), baseball operations assistant (2017-18) and a baseball operations intern (2016). He played college baseball at Emory University, earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration.