Brandon Pfaadt Takes on Brewers as He Works Towards Season
The Arizona Diamondbacks are out in Maryvale in Phoenix, Arizona to take on the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Fields of Phoenix. The start time is at 1:10 PM AZ time. The game will be broadcast on MLB.TV with the Brewers broadcast from Bally Sports Wisconsin doing the airing.
Brandon Pfaadt is on the bump for today's game. He will be making his fourth start of Spring Training. His last one was on Sunday against the Dodgers. He gave up four runs, four hits, no walks, and one strikeout over 2 2/3 innings.
So far this Spring, Pfaadt has an 11.12 ERA over 5.2 innings with seven runs given up and two strikeouts. The previous start's results were a bit of a misnomer. This is because the damage came when he avoided using his sweeper in the first inning. Once he reincorporated his strong sweeper, Pfaadt set down the final six hitters he faced on just 19 pitches.
Today, Pfaadt is looking to get to four innings. It will be crucial for the team to have Pfaadt built up to five or six innings come Opening Day, especially with the slow build of innings for Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. All three pitchers are on a strict schedule to be stretched out for Opening Day, with any setback being detrimental for the first turn through the rotation.
Following Pfaadt will be five relievers all working towards the Opening Day roster or competing for one of the final bullpen spots. They are left-handers Joe Mantiply and Andrew Saalfrank and right-handers Paul Sewald, Scott McGough, and Corbin Martin.
This will be Martin's second outing of Spring Training as he returns from the LAT muscle injury he suffered last year. His first went quite well throwing just six pitches over an inning of work with a strikeout and hit allowed.
Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see if Paul Sewald can get back to his normal 92.2 mph velocity on his fastball. So far this Spring, Sewald has been averaging nearly two mph lower than last year's average. According to the D-backs, this is typical for Sewald and it should be the same as last year come Opening Day.
Sewald has worked four scoreless innings with two hits, a walk, and three strikeouts so far. Another factor to watch with Sewald will be his new pitch, the changeup. He's working on it as a new pitch to throw to left-handed batters so they can't sit on his sweeper/fastball. So far this spring, no left-handed bat has got a hit off of it.
Joe Ross will start for the Brewers as he competes for a rotation job. Following him will be right-handers Thyago Vieira and Enoli Paredes along with left-hander Hoby Milner.
Lineups:
The lineups for the D-backs and Brewers on Friday, March 15th, 2024.
Jake Oliver
While the D-backs exhibited their A lineup yesterday, they're evaluating potential backups today. It's the bench lineup today with only potential Opening Day starter Joc Pederson in the lineup at left field. Elvis Andrus will get his first start at shortstop. Two of his biggest competitors for a bench spot, Jace Peterson and Blaze Alexander, will start alongside him.
Alexander will work at third base while Peterson is at second. Alexander and Peterson will both look to remain hot at the plate. Tucker Barnhart will be behind the plate the second day in a row while Gabriel Moreno recovers from lower back tightness. Barnhart is impressing this spring and making a solid case that he deserves to be the backup catcher.
