Pfaadt racks up mileage in 'crazy 24 hours' before strong D-backs return

PHOENIX -- Brandon Pfaadt traveled a lot of miles to get to Tuesday night's start against the Giants. Literal miles.

The Diamondbacks planned to call Pfaadt up from Triple-A Reno to start last Friday's series opener against the Rays in St. Petersburg, so they flew him there on Thursday in preparation. Because there are no direct flights from Reno to Tampa, he had to fly to San Francisco first and then to Tampa.

Except the Diamondbacks got rained out in St. Louis on Thursday night, so in order to keep the rotation set, Pfaadt's start was pushed back to Tuesday.

After checking into the team hotel on Thursday, he got a call from general manager Mike Hazen telling him to head back to Phoenix, which is what he did on Friday.

"That was a crazy 24 hours," Pfaadt said.

Back in Phoenix, Pfaadt threw a simulated game on Saturday in order to stay sharp for Tuesday’s start.

However he prepared, it certainly worked for him. He turned in an outstanding performance, allowing just one run over 5 1/3 innings as the Diamondbacks beat the Giants, 8-2, at Chase Field.

Pfaadt opened the year in Arizona's rotation, but compiled a 5.84 ERA in his first three starts before he was shifted to the bullpen when the Diamondbacks activated Merrill Kelly off the IL.

The plan was for Pfaadt to throw in long relief with the thought that he could keep his pitch count up and be an option if Arizona needed a starter. It was the same thing the team did with Ryne Nelson last season.

Only, the starting rotation began pitching deeper into games, and innings for Pfaadt became harder and harder to come by. He was optioned to Reno on June 3 so that he could get his pitch count built back up.

Pfaadt made three starts for Reno, in which he had a 1.80 ERA over 10 innings. In his final start for the Aces on June 20, he threw 52 pitches over 3 2/3 innings.

He was able to work with Reno pitching coaches Doug Drabek and Jeff Bajenaru, two people who helped him when he was first coming through the system.

"I think it was a great opportunity to get back on track, work on a lot of things. Had a lot of good people down there in Reno -- Dougie and Badge. That was, I think, a perfect fit and perfect guys to go back and reset and kind of use it as a build up and get back on track."

Pfaadt breezed through the Giants’ lineup in the first five innings, allowing just a pair of hits and a walk.

"I think he had good finish, good life on his fastball, and there was an extra gear on it," manager Torey Lovullo said. "In my opinion, it had a little extra hop. And then he looked like he threw some really good changeups early and got into a rhythm with that pitch. And then the breaking ball was exactly where he wanted it. So I think it was a three-, four-pitch mix that he could go to at any time."

The Diamondbacks consider Pfaadt to be a big piece of their future, as evidenced by the five-year, $45 million contract extension he signed before the 2025 season. So, finding a way to get him back on track is important.

It became even more urgent recently, when it was learned that ace Corbin Burnes' return from Tommy John surgery would be delayed from July to September. In addition, starters Michael Soroka (glute) and Ryne Nelson (elbow) suffered injuries.

"I think the main thing was just being aggressive, being relentless in the strike zone, and that's something that we honed in on in Triple-A," Pfaadt said when asked if he made any changes.

Arizona's dominance over San Francisco continued, as the Diamondbacks are 8-0 against them this year with five games still remaining, including Wednesday night's series finale.

Ketel Marte was once again a centerpiece to the offense, homering for the fourth straight game and collecting a pair of hits, which moved him past Paul Goldschmidt for second on Arizona's all-time list. Marte now has 1,184 hits with the franchise, trailing only Luis Gonzalez’s 1,337.