Brandon Pfaadt Must Command the Sweeper Better to be Successful

Limiting walks has always been a strength for Pfaadt, but improved command in and around the zone will determine his future success

May 4, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Pfaadt (32) / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Brandon Pfaadt has been a somewhat difficult pitcher to figure out so far. He began his Arizona Diamondbacks career in 2023 by getting shelled in four of his first six major league starts, resulting in a 9.82 ERA. During the minor league all star break he was contacted by pitching coach Brent Strom who brainstormed with the young pitcher ways to help him improve.

Those efforts paid off, as Pfaadt was much better once he was recalled for good on July 22nd, posting a 4.22 ERA. It wasn't perfect, as he still had some games in which he allowed too many homers. (13 in 70 innings) But Pfaadt's improvements were key to the team making it to the Postseason.

Once he got to the Postseason, Pfaadt really shined. In five games, 22 innings he posted a 3.27 ERA. His best game was an impressive 5.2 innings of two-hit shutout baseball against the Phillies in game six of the NLCS. He struck out nine batters in that game and didn't walk anyone.

So far this year Pfaadt has been somewhat up and down on the way to a 4.61 ERA and 3.28 FIP in seven starts. Posting very strong strikeout to walk ratios has always been part of Pfaadt's profile, and 2024 is no exception. In fact his 42 strikeouts to just six walks in 41 innings result in a 7.00 K/BB ratio, which is 10th best in MLB. His control is excellent, but that's not the same things as command.

Pfaadt has tamed the long ball problem for the most part, allowing just five homers so far. But he's been giving up a lot of hits. His 9.4 H/9 ratio is the 14th highest in the league. This could be linked to a command issue, especially with his trademark sweeper.

Studying his Baseball Savant Statcast page we can see a major shift in which pitches have been effective for him. In 2023 his fastball run value was -15 runs below average and ranked in just the 5th percentile, while his breaking pitch run value was rated +6 and ranked in the 81st percentile. In 2024 that's reversed. The fastball is +1, 52nd percentile, but his breaking pitches are -6, and a lowly 1st percentile.

Pfaadt's primary breaking pitch is his sweeper, which is part of the slider family. Statcast classifies the sweeper, the slider, and the slurve as part of the slider group. Pfaadt throws the sweeper 30.2% of the time so far in 2024, compared to a league average 27% slider usage across MLB.

Pfaadt's sweeper has been getting hit harder than last year and harder than league average. The bulk of the damage has of course happened when he leaves a pitch in the heart of the attack zones. That's the same for every pitcher, but in Pfaadt's case it's been much more extreme. See table below for comparison with MLB averages for the slider/sweeper in total and by attack zones.

Brandon Pfaadt Sweeper by attack zone vs. MLB avg. / Jack Sommers

You can see in this table that the number of pitches Pfaadt has left in the heart of the attack zone is not much higher than the league average. The damage done on those pitches has been far greater however, as evidenced by the Batting Average and Slugging against. In the shadow zones around the edges of strike zones his numbers are virtually the same as league average. He's somewhat worse outside the zone in the Chase/Waste areas.

When studying all the various pitch metrics on his Statcast page it's difficult to pinpoint any area specifically where the pitch is much worse. The velocity, spin rates, and movement profiles are all quite similar to last year.

Conclusion

The most direct path to improvement for Pfaadt must be better command, keeping the sweeper out of the middle of the zone. This is true for every pitcher of course. Based on the data we're seeing, this is more important for Pfaadt than most other pitchers, not only tonight against the Baltimore Orioles, but throughout the rest of the season.