His goal? \u201cI think just being aggressive, and we did that,\u201d Pfaadt told reporters.<\/p>\n
The right-hander only had to toss more than two pitches on four of the nine batters he faced, and Pfaadt induced a lot of weak contact, six of his seven outs coming via groundouts or flyouts. Pfaadt\u2019s lone walk issued came after he started the batter off with a 3-0 count.<\/p>\n
The pitcher peppered the zone, with 18 of his 25 pitches inside of it. Due to this clear preference of being in the zone, Pfaadt can be hurt without a strong whiff rate, as was the case last season at 22.1% (23rd percentile in MLB<\/a>), according to Baseball Savant.<\/p>\n The odd other half of the coin is that the 6-foot-4 player caused batters to chase 30% of the time in 2025, which ranked in the 74th percentile.<\/p>\n It all comes down to tightening things up, rather than hoping the cards fall another way this year, Pfaadt said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think just being consistent, going out there and knowing I have the ability to go out there and do my job,\u201d Pfaadt said. \u201cSome of the games I\u2019ve showcased some greatness and some bumps in the road. So, I think just evening those out, kind of meeting in the middle.\u201d<\/p>\n Like 2025, Pfaadt showcased a six-pitch arsenal in a very small sample size, even going through five types in his final batter of his first spring outing.<\/p>\n Pfaadt said he specifically wants to use his cutter, which he implemented for the 2025 season, more often while \u201ctightening up\u201d the slider, outside of general year-over-year improvement across his whole repertoire.<\/p>\n He\u2019s logged at least four appearances in the past three spring camps, so he should have a couple more chances on the mound to affirm or alter his pitching depth in the remaining 15 games leading up to Opening Day on March 26.<\/p>\n Brandon Pfaadt likes Diamondbacks \u2018flying under the radar\u2019<\/p>\n If the 2023 postseason told MLB fans anything, it\u2019s that a confident club is a dangerous one, and the Diamondbacks were proof.<\/p>\n Pfaadt, who thrived in his first real crack at the MLB playoffs, doesn\u2019t have to be reminded of that and said he welcomes the underdog role once again. Submarine-style reliever Ryan Thompson<\/a>, another member of the group that created some expected chaos,\u00a0shares the same mentality.<\/p>\n \u201cWe take that mindset that we had for that month and take it in and roll with it throughout the year,\u201d Pfaadt said. \u201cI think it could be a very special year.\u201d<\/p>\n With Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly returning on respective deals, Paul Sewald coming back late in the offseason and other core pitching pieces still rostered, the staff isn\u2019t so different from the one that manufactured a trip to the franchise\u2019s second World Series. A clear difference is the amount of youth now available and already battle-tested, something Pfaadt believes Arizona will benefit from.<\/p>\n \u201cSome younger guys had to step up and we obviously acquired a lot of guys via trades. So, I think now we\u2019re in an even better spot with those guys that we got,\u201d Pfaadt said.<\/p>\n
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