PHOENIX -- As he sat in the bullpen for the Marlins on Thursday afternoon, left-hander A.J. Puk figured there was a good chance he was going to get into the game, especially when Miami rallied to send it into extra innings.

When he didn¡¯t get into the game, though, he began to get an inkling that something might be up.

¡°I was on edge that something might go down,¡± Puk said.

Something was indeed going down, as the D-backs and Marlins were in the finishing stages of a trade that would bring Puk to Arizona, and send two Minor Leaguers -- infielder Deyvison De Los Santos and outfield Andrew Pintar -- to Miami.

¡°Then I was just really excited,¡± Puk said. ¡°Just know this is a great organization and they¡¯re winning games right now. It¡¯s always fun to win.¡±

Puk reported to the D-backs on Saturday just prior to their 9-5 win over the Pirates and tossed a scoreless eighth inning, as Jake McCarthy collected a career-high five hits to lead the Arizona offense.

The 29-year-old met with manager Torey Lovullo, who laid out what role he would be in -- late-innings leverage situations -- and went over what the team¡¯s culture is like.

¡°I said, 'Just come in and be yourself,'¡± Lovullo said. ¡°'You don't have to be any different version of what you've been your entire career. I'm most interested in getting to know you. I know it's hard to walk into a new clubhouse and getting to know all your new teammates can be a little stressful, but in time it'll all slow down for you.' I just wanted to make sure that I welcomed him to the group and just allow him to be as comfortable as possible.¡±

Puk opened this season in the Marlins¡¯ rotation as Miami tried to convert him from a reliever to a starter. That experiment did not go well, with Puk going 0-4 in his four starts with a 9.22 ERA.

Shifted back to the bullpen in mid-May, Puk regained his dominance, compiling a 2.08 ERA in 28 games.

Puk now gives Lovullo yet another quality arm at the backend of games joining closer Paul Sewald and setup men Kevin Ginkel, Ryan Thompson and Justin Martinez. Puk is a second lefty in the bullpen, with Joe Mantiply, who has been carrying a heavy workload again this season.

¡°He gets the toughest lefties of every team,¡± Lovullo said of Mantiply. ¡°But he wears down and I¡¯ve got to get him days down. So, getting another lefty in there is certainly going to help us, but A.J. is very qualified to get right-handed hitters out, too, and he's going to find himself in the middle of a lot of different situations.¡±

The first task for Puk is getting to know his new teammates, none of whom he¡¯s played with.

¡°Everybody has been very welcoming so far and it seems like a really good group,¡± Puk said. ¡°It¡¯s kind of overwhelming trying to remember everybody¡¯s name, but it¡¯s been great.¡±

Puk has spent the past couple of offseasons in Scottsdale, so even if he doesn¡¯t know all his teammates yet, he is familiar with the area.

With the trade, Puk made quite a leap in the standings going from the Marlins, who came into Saturday tied with the Rockies for the fewest wins in the NL, to the D-backs, who now sit a half-game out of a Wild Card spot.

¡°That's always a good feeling -- being wanted,¡± Puk said. ¡°Just being able to go from a team where we weren¡¯t going to make the playoffs to coming here and playing for that with the goal to get back to the World Series again and hope to win it. So, it¡¯s exciting.¡±