Diamondbacks' Mitch Bratt Makes Best Start of Young MLB Career

The Arizona Diamondbacks earned a gritty, come-from-behind 4-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians to open the final series of their lengthy, four-city road trip. They could not have done so without the efforts of their young starting pitcher.

Left-hander Mitch Bratt has not made many effective starts for the Diamondbacks this year. But Friday night's was his most effective so far, and the sharpest of his young career by a wide margin.

It was quite encouraging.

Diamondbacks' Mitch Bratt makes best start of 2026

Jul 29, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Mitch Bratt (60) throws in the outfield before the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Prior to Friday's game, Bratt had only completed the fifth inning one time. He gave up five runs on seven hits and five walks in that game against a potent Washington Nationals offense.

The Guardians, who entered the series with the worst team OPS in the majors, did not present the same threat. But that doesn't take away from the impressive line Bratt posted.

The 23-year-old left-hander threw five strong innings. He allowed only one earned run, and that came in the very first frame. From there, he flirted with dominance. He allowed only two more base hits on the day and stranded both.

"We hung around because of Mitch Bratt," manager Torey Lovullo said postgame, speaking to Todd Walsh of D-backs.TV. "He did a really nice job of executing at the most critical moments, much like the offense did, but overall gives us five [innings], one [run]. Stranded some runners."

Perhaps the difference this time around was Bratt's ability to escape base traffic. He stranded runners in four of his five innings, and erased multiple runners in three.

"I think he stepped back, took a couple deep breaths, and executed, and when he... misfired, he made a really quick adjustment, and I thought the mound presence was fantastic," Lovullo said.

The lefty did, however, still issue four walks, though one was intentional. He only picked up five whiffs, but landed 16 pitches in the zone for called strikes. For a command-and-control-focused pitcher, that was an encouraging sight, though Bratt will still need to cut down on the walks going forward. He landed 50 of his 82 pitches for strikes, a strike rate of just under 61%.

Lovullo said the walk issue "continues to be a work in progress" for Bratt.

"He's a young pitcher trying to find his way. We'll keep coaching him up," the manager said.

And from there, a newly-shuffled bullpen took over — and dominated the Guardians' offense for four innings.

Diamondbacks' closer-by-committee has good start

Jul 29, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno (14) and relief pitcher Brandyn Garcia (55) celebrate after a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Once Bratt exited, it was mostly smooth sailing for Arizona's bullpen. Taylor Clarke, Jonathan Loasigia and Kevin Ginkel threw scoreless sixth, seventh and eighth innings with one cumulative baserunner allowed.

But as the game grew late, and Arizona was presented with a save situation, all eyes were on the ninth. It was the first save situation since Lovullo announced the demotion of Paul Sewald from the closer's role and the first official instance of Arizona's new closer-by-committee setup.

But the D-backs have yet to show more than one committee member. Left-hander Brandyn Garcia got the save chance for the second straight Sewald-less ninth inning, and mowed down the order on seven pitches. Garcia's dominant season continued with his third save of the year.

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