Brandon Pfaadt Recovers, Offense Surges as D-backs Tie Padres

The Arizona Diamondbacks tied their NL West Rival San Diego Padres 5-5 on Sunday, in a split squad game at Salt River Fields. It was another solid day for Arizona's offense and bullpen.

Right-hander Brandon Pfaadt made his final start of the Cactus League. Just hours prior, Pfaadt was named a member of Arizona's starting rotation by manager Torey Lovullo. Pfaadt had been in a competition for that final starting slot, alongside right-hander Ryne Nelson and lefty Jordan Montgomery.

But it's Pfaadt who ultimately comes away with the job, perhaps partially as a result of his brilliant five-inning shutout against these very same Padres just a week ago.

Or perhaps it was the fact that at 25 years old, he led the D-backs in innings by a wide margin in 2024, pitching 181.2 innings, and maintaining status as the most consistent arm on the staff.

"I'm happy. I feel like I'm ready to go," Pfaadt told reporters following his outing.

"I don't think we really thought of it as a competition too much. We were just controlling what we can control. I said that all spring, and they had to make their decision at the end. We all knew that, and me and Ryne [Nelson] are good buddies at the end of the day, so nothing else changes," he said.

Pfaadt said the buildup process throughout Spring Training was a positive for him. But when asked whether he had any other goals, the righty was candid.

"To get the starting spot. I think that was one of my goals, and I knew if I came out and controlled what I could control, this would happen. So I'm happy with how I threw the ball this spring, for sure.

"I think we can move forward [now], and I think we can come together as a team, and go out there and compete against other people and start the season strong," Pfaadt said.

Sunday's game was a bit more of a challenge for Pfaadt however, as he was hit around a bit in the early goings.

In the first inning, he surrendered a single and homer, before a walk, single and RBI double made it 3-0. Pfaadt was pulled after throwing 28 pitches (18 for strikes) in the inning, but re-entered the contest to begin the second.

From there, Pfaadt settled in to pitch a scoreless second and third.

He gave up a double and a walk in the fourth, and a double steal of second base and home plate hung a fourth run on the righty's line. Luis Arraez was caught at second, ending the inning, but the run counted.

Pfaadt threw 84 pitches (54 for strikes) over 3.2 innings, giving up six hits, three walks and the four runs, while striking out one.

His velocity sat just around 93 on his fastball and sinker, and while he did make some stellar pitches, the location was somewhat inconsistent. He generated just five total whiffs.

But these numbers still have yet to mean something concrete. Pfaadt pitched well as a whole this spring, and has shown improvement in his command and consistency overall, with mostly sharp movement on his pitches.

The right-hander took a mature approach in his evaluation of Sunday's outing, and said he felt like he threw the ball well, despite some of the uglier numbers.

"I feel like today went well. The stat line probably wasn't the best, but threw the ball well, felt good. Pitches felt good. I think we just didn't make some pitches in certain situations, but at the end of the day, got our pitches in. We're ready to go for the season," Pfaadt said.

Lovullo was complimentary about his starter's grit in his postgame press conference.

"Brandon made a couple adjustments, in-game adjustments, and started to land pitches and get some outs against their A lineup, which is always nice to see. It's never easy against a team like this, and I was proud of the way he rebounded and made some pitches," Lovullo said.

Arizona's offense had another solid day as well. They rapped out 11 hits, and turned a 4-1 deficit into a 5-4 lead in a four-run sixth inning.

Ketel Marte hit his first homer of Spring Training in the first inning, a 101 MPH rope to right field. Marte finished 3-for-3.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled and knocked in a run, Eugenio Suárez crushed his third homer of the Cactus League, tying the game at four apiece.

Prospects Gavin Conticello, LuJames Groover and Ryan Waldschmidt each doubled. Conticello finished 2-for-3.

And the D-backs' bullpen did its job, for the most part. Newly-extended fireballing reliever Justin Martinez threw a scoreless inning with a pair of strikeouts, hitting a solid 101 MPH on his four-seam.

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Lefty Joe Mantiply threw a scoreless inning. Scott McGough went 1.2 without allowing a run, and saw just one baserunner - a walk - against three strikeouts of his own.

Minor league lefty Luke Craig entered for the save and gave up a game-tying solo homer. He then loaded the bases with one out, but induced a double play to end the inning.

The Diamondbacks will play a pair of non-counting exhibition games against the Cleveland Guardians on Monday and Tuesday at Chase Field. Monday's game begins at 6:40 p.m.