Diamondbacks' Brandon Pfaadt set to play critical role in NLCS vs. Phillies
Brandon Pfaadt was sitting at his parents’ house in Kentucky, using the All-Star break as a mental reset amid what had been a trying season.
His minor league numbers were okay, but not as impressive as in 2022, when he dominated Triple-A. In the majors, his ERA in six starts was 9.82, looking nothing like the prospect that had been touted as a savior of the Diamondbacks’ rotation. He earned two demotions in the process, not the type of start to a career that anyone envisions.
But as Pfaadt relaxed, flushing those numbers from his mind for a few days, Brent Strom had other ideas. One night, around 11 p.m., his phone lit up. Strom, the Diamondbacks’ pitching coach, was on the other end.
The call, Pfaadt joked this week, was “probably longer than it should have been.” Even so, it was “reassuring,” he said, to hear from his major league pitching coach amid a spell in the minors. The message, too, was comforting.
“We need you in big games in the postseason, later on in the season,” Strom told Pfaadt.
Three months later, Pfaadt relayed that story sitting in the Diamondbacks’ media room, in front of a screen displaying the National League Division Series logo. Reporters and TV cameras from across the country filled the room, all hoping to ask Pfaadt and his teammates about their improbable 2-0 series lead over the Dodgers. A night later, they would do the same, this time to ask about a series sweep that shocked the baseball world, sending the Diamondbacks to their first National League Championship Series in 16 years. On Monday, they’ll open that series with Game 1 in Philadelphia.
Pfaadt was at the center of turning that into reality. In the clinching win over the Dodgers, he worked 4 1/3 scoreless innings, setting the course for a 4-2 final. Given the circumstances, it was perhaps the best performance of his career.
And it was possible, in large part, because of the changes Strom implemented on that July call. Primarily, he wanted Pfaadt to move to the first-base side of the rubber. Pitching from the third-base side, Strom believed, reduced the deception on Pfaadt’s sweeper. From the first-base side, he thought it could look like a strike before spinning off the plate.
“I have a little pad, and when things come to mind, I have to write it down,” Strom said. “I get this all the time. It'll happen at 3 in the morning, 2 in the morning when I think about a game and something comes to mind. I’m always afraid I’m going to forget.”
For Pfaadt, this minor tweak to improve his sweeper was crucial. In his first two major league stints, he threw his four-seam fastball 55% of the time, an untenable number for starting pitchers unless they have one of the best fastballs in the game. Since returning to the majors on July 22, his usage on the pitch is down to 41%. His ERA is 4.19. His strikeout rate is up from 7.4 to 9.2 per nine. All of it is made possible because he has more confidence in his sweeper, which now has a 34.6% whiff rate, up from 31.1%.
In Wednesday’s Game 3, Pfaadt added another change. He kept Dodgers’ hitters off balance with his changeup, using it 26% of the time, a career high.
That start, of course, was extremely important. It elevated the Diamondbacks to heights few imagined them scaling this season. But in the NLCS, Pfaadt’s role will expand even further.
Against the Dodgers, Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly — Arizona’s two aces — were slated to start four of five games, an arrangement made possible by a slew of off days. Against the Phillies, they’ll be able to pitch just four of seven games.
Manager Torey Lovullo did not name his starting pitchers beyond Gallen and Kelly — who will pitch Games 1 and 2 as well as Games 5 and 6 — but he strongly suggested that Pfaadt would start Game 3. In turn, that would line him up to start a potential Game 7.
The Phillies have reliable starters they can turn to in each game. For the Diamondbacks, Pfaadt will be the difference between having reliable starters in four of seven games or in six of seven. Lovullo said he could also be in line to pitch deeper into games — up to “22 or 24” batters — depending on how he’s throwing and how rested the bullpen is.
It’s a massive role, and it comes against an explosive offense. In the regular season, the Phillies ranked in the top 10 in runs scored, home runs, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. In the playoffs, they’ve averaged 5.2 runs per game to get to this point.
The offense also aligns well against Pfaadt’s weaknesses. They have some of the most prodigious power bats in the league, most notably Bryce Harper, who has three home runs in these playoffs, and Nick Castellanos, who has four in the last two games. Pfaadt, meanwhile, allowed 2.06 home runs per nine innings this season, the sixth-worst mark among those who pitched 90 innings.
In the Wild Card series against Milwaukee, home runs limited Pfaadt to 2 2/3 innings. He gave up a towering shot to the Brewers’ ninth hitter, Tyrone Taylor, and narrowly missed another when a blast from Willy Adames hooked foul. His start against the Dodgers, though, showed progress. Los Angeles ranked second in home runs this year. Against Pfaadt, they hit none.
“What did I think about his outing?” Lovullo said. “It was fantastic.”
Now, the goal is to repeat that against the Phillies.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Brandon Pfaadt set to play critical role in NLCS vs. Phillies
