A big piece of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ future was on display Monday night as right-hander Jon Duplantier tossed three scoreless innings of relief in his Major League debut to record the save in the D-backs’ 10-3 win over the Padres.

The D-backs purchased the contract of Duplantier, the team’s No. 2 prospect, earlier in the day, with the club in need of fresh arms in the wake of a taxing first series against the Dodgers. He made one appearance in big league camp this spring, tossing two hitless frames with two strikeouts, and he was ticketed to begin the season as a member of Triple-A Reno’s starting rotation before getting the call.

Duplantier, 24, entered Monday’s game in the seventh inning, following an impressive big league debut by starter Merrill Kelly, and promptly retired the side in order, inducing a swinging strikeout sandwiched between a pair of weak groundouts.

The No. 72 overall prospect recorded two more groundouts in the eighth inning, including a double play that helped offset a leadoff single, and then earned the save by striking out the final batter of the game to complete a perfect ninth. He threw 33 pitches in the outing, 22 for strikes.

Duplantier pitched effectively with three pitches in his debut, relying heavily on a two-seam fastball that averaged 92.7 mph, topped out at 94.5 and featured a considerable arm-side run that enabled him to chew up same-sided hitters. It accounted for 19 of his 33 pitches in the outing, and he also threw six four-seam fastballs.

In terms of his secondary offerings, the 6-foot-4, 225-pounder threw four each of his low-80s curveball and mid-80s slider, landing three of his breaking balls for called strikes. Scouts view both as above-average pitches, and Duplantier has shown natural bat-missing ability with each of them during his ascent of the Minors. And while he didn’t throw a changeup on Monday night, Duplantier does have an average one in his arsenal. It’s a clear fourth pitch for him, though he had demonstrated good feel for it in the past.

The performance, both in terms of the results and the stuff he showed in the process, was an accurate snapshot of what can be expected from Duplantier, who made quick work of the Minors and bypassed the Triple-A level en route to the big leagues.

The D-backs’ third-round pick in the 2016 Draft out of Rice University, Duplantier jumped onto the prospect radar the following year as he garnered MLB Pipeline Pitcher of the Year honors after a historically good first full season in which he recorded the second-lowest ERA (1.39) by a Minor Leaguer in the last 25 years, trailing only Justin Verlander’s 1.29 ERA in 2005.

He worked 136 innings overall that season, going 12-3 with a .192 opponents average and 165 strikeouts in 25 games (24 starts) between Class A Kane County and Class A Advanced Visalia, while making a Futures Game appearances along the way.

Duplantier’s move up Double-A in 2018 was initially delayed by right biceps tendinitis, but he returned healthy and ultimately compiled a 2.69 ER with a .217 BAA and 68 strikeouts in 67 innings (14 starts) in the Southern League. He continued to pitch well after the season in the Arizona Fall League, striking out 32 batters in 23 1/3 innings (six starts) as he made up for some of the time lost due to injury.

But even with Dupalntier’s overwhelming success a starter in the Minors -- he was 17-4 with a 1.79 ERA in 40 career starts (42 games) -- questions still remain about his long-term role in the big leagues given his checkered medical history.

Prior to the aforementioned arm issue that sidelined him for a portion of 2018, Duplantier experienced elbow soreness that limited him to just one inning during his pro debut in ’16. Before that, he missed his entire sophomore season at Rice due to a shoulder injury.

Meanwhile, the fact that Duplantier utilizes a longer arm action and works from a low three-quarters slot doesn’t help to assuage any concerns about his risk for injury going forward. It’s led many evaluators to peg him as a bullpen asset long term, even though he’s flashed the ceiling of a potential mid-rotation starter thanks to a combination of size, athleticism and stuff.

Duplantier may very well return to the rotation, either in Triple-A or with the D-backs, but his ability to work multiple innings in a given outing could help him stick as a reliever. And based on his injury history, as well as the lingering concerns about his durability, a case could be made that Duplantier might offer more realistic value to the D-backs in bullpen role, even if only for this season.