Brandon Pfaadt's Adjustments are Already Paying Off

2026 is going to be a major season for Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Brandon Pfaadt. After an extremely up-and-down season in 2025, the D-backs are going to need to count on their young righty.

Coming into camp, Pfaadt had been working on making minor tweaks to his mechanics in hope of improving his sweeper. That pitch, which had been a weapon for him in the past, was hammered in 2025.

And Sunday's brilliant outing against the San Diego Padres suggested Pfaadt is already getting the desired results out of his tweaks.

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Arizona Diamondbacks' Brandon Pfaadt Pitches Brilliant No-hit Outing

Mar 10, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Pfaadt against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

It wasn't a no-hitter, but Pfaadt was on the way to one. The righty mowed down the San Diego Padres over five innings, holding them hitless, scoreless and walk-free while striking out six. The lone baserunner against him was due to an error in the first inning.

Pfaadt only needed 51 pitches to get through those frames, and landed 43 for strikes.

"I thought Brandon was doing a really nice job," manager Torey Lovullo said postgame.

In fact, Pfaadt was so efficient, the team decided to put him back out for the fifth, despite only intending to let him go four innings.

"[He was] so good that we had to send him back out there for another inning of work," said Lovullo. "We felt like the pitch count was fine, the workload was very manageable, and he just did exactly what he did in that final inning for the first four."

But most importantly of all, Pfaadt's sweeper was, once again, a weapon. He threw the pitch 10 times, got nine swings, and collected four whiffs. Three of his six strikeouts came on that sweeper.

"A fantastic day for him, filled up the zone, ton of execution, a lot of swing-and-miss," Lovullo continued. "Secondary stuff was good. So we're very pleased with where he's at."

Last season, Pfaadt pitched some of the most impressive outings of his career, while also having some of the most difficult outcomes. He threw a nine-inning shutout, contrasted with an eight-run affair in which he did not record an out — adding up to a 5.25 overall ERA.

So far in spring training, the righty has only allowed one run in 10 innings over his three starts. That has added up to an 0.90 ERA, though Cactus League results are not numbers to run true evaluations on.

Pfaadt has dealt with some hard contact, but appears to be dialing up his swing-and-miss. If his secondary arsenal is working, he could take a step forward.