Less than twenty-four hours after the Diamondbacks managed to overcome a disastrous first inning from Michael Soroka, they had the chance to do it again, thanks to the kind of performance we’ve sadly become accustomed to from Brandon Pfaadt in 2026. On paper, at least, this seemed like a winnable game, and maybe even one in which we had the advantage coming in. Pfaadt hasn’t been good to start the season—he was rocking a 6.75 ERA after his first two starts—but his opposite number today was old friend
Taijuan Walker, who came into the game sporting a distinctly unsexy 9.31 ERA.
Pfaadt and Walker are actually in similar positions within their respective team’s rotations, insofar as the Diamondbacks will likely be sending one starter to the bullpen once Merrill Kelly is ready to take his rotation spot, while Walker is keeping a spot warm until Zack Wheeler returns from the injured list. Walker is definitely going back to the Phillies’ bullpen when Wheeler returns; Pfaadt, meanwhile, has been looking increasingly likely to be pitching out of our ‘pen once Kelly is back on the mound. There was some question before Opening Day as to whether he or Michael Soroka would be the odd man out, but while Soroka has been getting good results (aside from that first inning yesterday), Pfaadt continues to display his unerring talent for giving up the dreaded One Big Inning.
The good guys got off to a good start, at least. Ketel Marte greeted Walker by launching a towering dinger into the right field seats on the third pitch he saw:
So that was fun! Corbin Carroll, back in starting lineup today as the designated hitter, drew a four-pitch walk, and then Geraldo Perdomo moved him to along with a ground out to second. Adrian Del Castillo, behind the plate this afternoon with Gabi Moreno once again ailing, singled to center, driving in Carroll. Jose Fernandez and Nolan Arenado then struck out in succession, leaving ADC stranded at first. Still, it’s nice to take the early lead. 2-0 D-BACKS
Sadly, however, that lead didn’t last. Pfaadt pitched a great bottom of the first—two Ks, ten pitches thrown—and a perfectly serviceable second frame, pitching around a two-out walk to record a second zero. Then, alas, came the OBI.
For starters, Alek Bohm reached on a grounder to short that Perdomo booted for an error. Phillies center fielder Justin Crawford followed with a single to left, turning the lineup over. Pfaadt managed to record the first out by striking out Trae Turner for the second time in the ball game, but then gave up two consecutive long balls over his next four pitches. Kyle Schwarber launched a hanging changeup into the right field seats, and then Bryce Harper launched his own over the fence in right center. Two outs (and another walk, and a hit batsman) later, the inning finally ended, but the damage was done. 4-2 Philadelphia
And that was pretty much that. Pfaadt returned to competence in the fourth, as is often the case—in fact, he wound up going six full innings, pitching around minimal traffic in each inning—a walk in the fourth, a single in the fifth, a double in the sixth—to put up three zeroes. The bullpen did its job, too, with Kevin Ginkel pitching a scoreless seventh and Ryan Thompson a scoreless eighth. But the Diamondbacks offense couldn’t make up the lost ground, despite having plenty of chances:
- Alek Thomas hit a two-out double in the second but was stranded there;
- Tim Tawa TOOTBLANned his way into an out after drawing a two-out walk in the fourth;
- Jorge Barrosa reached on a one-out single in the fifth, but was doubled off thanks to a Ketel Marte grounder to first;
- Adrian Del Castillo singled with two outs in the sixth, but was stranded there;
- Alek Thomas was drilled with two outs in the seventh, stole second and took third on an errant throw, and was left standing there when Barrosa couldn’t get him home.
We did manage to get a run back in the top of the eighth, thanks to a two-out Perdomo walk, ADC’s third single, and a Jose Fernandez RBI single that scored Perdomo and advanced ADC to third. Sadly, however, ADC is slow as molasses on the bases, so there was no chance he was going to score, and, shocking as it might be to believe, Nolan Arenado struck out on four pitches when it was his turn to try and drive in the tying run. 4-3 Philadelphia
The bottom of the Diamondbacks order had one last chance in the top of the ninth, but they sat down in order, and that was that.
Loss Probability Added, Courtesy of FanGraphs
R2D2: Adrian Del Castillo (4 AB, 3 H, 1 RBI, +12% WPA)
Imperial Stormtroopers: Nolan Arenado (4 AB, 0 H, 2 K, -19% WPA), Brandon Pfaadt (6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 HR, 3 BB, 6 K, -20% WPA)
The Gameday Thread seems to have been reasonably lively for a Saturday game for which the first pitch happened at 10:05am Arizona time, with 156 comments at time of writing. Sadly, my attention was taken up with getting some final stuff in order around the house in preparation for TheRealRamona’s dad, who arrived at his new home with us sometime during the eighth inning. Comment of the Game goes to MikeMono by popular acclaim, and because it shows you how it’s done with the /sarcasm font when one is critiquing the lineup and lack of timely pinch-hitting decisions:
Anyway, thanks to the Friday night result, we are still in line for a possible series victory. Join us tomorrow as Zac Gallen takes the mound for the rubber match, going up against highly-regarded Phillies prospect Andrew Painter. First pitch is scheduled for 10:35am AZ time. Hope you can stop by!
As always, thanks for reading, and as always, go Diamondbacks!
