A little less than three months ago, Patrick Forbes toed the rubber as the starting pitcher for the D-backs' Spring Breakout game in what amounted to his unofficial pro debut. Things quickly went haywire (four hits, four walks, two runs in 1 2/3 innings), and he was placed on the injured list shortly after with a right flexor strain to begin the season.
But that bitter start is firmly in the rearview mirror. Forbes made his second High-A start and went nine up, nine down with six strikeouts in Hillsboro's 2-1 win over Tri-City on Wednesday night at Hillsboro Ballpark.
The D-backs’ No. 9 prospect didn’t throw a first-pitch strike to any of the first three batters he faced, but battled back to end each of the at-bats with punchouts, all three on his slider.
“Oh boy, I’ll tell ya,” Hillsboro broadcaster Rich Burk said, “After those fastballs, the slider coming up there at 83 mph … it is mean.”
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The ball didn’t so much as leave the infield over Forbes’ three perfect frames with two groundouts and an infield popout also on his ledger. The 21-year-old largely pounded the zone, throwing 29 of his 43 pitches for strikes. Of the 24 swings he elicited, batters came up empty 11 times.
Forbes’ highest-graded offering per MLB Pipeline is his plus fastball, which on top of often being dialed up near triple digits, gets impressive carry and high-spin rates from a low three-quarters arm slot. He rode the offering to 117 strikeouts in 71 2/3 innings during his junior year at Louisville, which led to the D-backs popping him with the 29th overall pick (which they received for Christian Walker signing with the Astros as a free agent) in the 2025 Draft.
The righty evenly split his six strikeouts down the middle -- three on his fastball (which sat 94-96 mph) and three on his slider, the primary secondary weapon that neutralized both lefties and righties. Having also dealt with a flexor strain last year, the D-backs figure to keep his workload in check for the time being.
COMPLETE D-BACKS PROSPECT COVERAGE
Through his first three pro appearances (including an outing in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League), Forbes has yielded just one run, but that came when the bullpen allowed an inherited runner to score. He’s faced 26 batters in total and just three collected hits (.115 average), with only one -- a double -- going for extra bases.
At High-A, Forbes joins fellow highly regarded pitching prospect David Hagaman (AZ No. 8), who arrived last summer in the Merrill Kelly deal. In addition to having 2024 first-rounder (and fellow No. 29 overall pick) Slade Caldwell (AZ No. 3) in the lineup, the Hops also received a boost this week when the batting leader (.370) among players currently in the Minors, Kayson Cunningham (AZ No. 2/MLB No. 79), was promoted from Single-A.