Brandon

Pfaadt

Ryan Thompson and Drey Jameson each pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game. Pfaadt walked none and allowed four hits, all of which were singles. His stuff doesn’t seem to be any better than it was at the beginning of the year, but he’s given the D-backs two very effective starts since returning from the minors. He’ll take on the Dodgers on Saturday.

Pfaadt was outstanding on Tuesday, holding the Giants to just three baserunners through five shutout innings before Luis Arraez took him deep for a solo homer with one out in the sixth. That would end the day for Pfaadt at 66 pitches with two strikeouts. It was his first start in the rotation since early April. The 27-year-old right-hander will look to build on the strong start when he takes a 5.40 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, and a 33/18 K/BB ratio across 43 1/3 innings into a start against the Padres in San Diego on Monday.

We can safely confirm that Pfaadt wasn’t abducted by aliens and will take the ball for Tuesday’s contest against the Giants at Chase Field. There’s some definite streaming appeal here for fantasy managers in deeper mixed leagues since San Francisco has been one of the least productive lineups in the game this season. The 27-year-old doesn’t offer a ton of upside based on his track record, but he’s been pitching well at Triple-A since being demoted earlier this month. He’s a decent zero-risk flyer in this spot.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told reporters that Pfaadt will take the ball against San Francisco unless he’s abducted by aliens. In other words, he’s lined up to start Tuesday night at Chase Field barring a full-on X-Files scenario. The 27-year-old gets another look in Arizona’s injury-depleted rotation following three straight encouraging outings for Triple-A Reno after an early-June demotion. He’s unlikely to shoulder a significant workload, but there’s definitely some short-term appeal in deeper mixed leagues against a pedestrian Giants lineup.

This is especially painful on the heels of Ryne Nelson’s injury. It originally sounded like Brandon Pfaadt would make at least one more minor league start, but he might be needed before then. Mitch Bratt and Dylan Ray don’t seem like great options at the moment. Tommy Henry is available, but he has a 7.67 ERA for Reno.

The injury was originally announced as left hip discomfort, but it has since moved down a bit. If Soroka joins Ryne Nelson on the IL for the D-backs, then Brandon Pfaadt figures to get a rotation spot a little earlier than anticipated.

Pfaadt will need to get stretched out as a starter to rejoin the rotation, and this figures to be a somewhat lengthy assignment in light of that news. Pfaadt wasn’t exactly helping the team in the bullpen anyway, as he had just two holds while allowing four home runs and 13 earned runs in 15 innings.

Kelly, who was supposed to be Arizona’s Opening Day starter this season, will take the ball on Tuesday night against the Orioles for his season debut. His return pushes Brandon Pfaadt to the bullpen until further notice. The 37-year-old veteran right-hander offers some appeal as a back-end rotation stabilizer in deeper fantasy formats after registering a strong pristine 3.52 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 167/48 K/BB ratio across 184 innings last year between the Diamondbacks and Rangers

Pfaadt loses his spot in Arizona’s rotation with Kelly back from the injured list while Ryne Nelson and Michael Soroka remain. The 27-year-old righty has posted an inflated 5.94 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and 11/6 K/BB ratio across 16 2/3 innings over three starts. His stuff should play up in shorter bursts out of the bullpen, but he’s a non-factor for fantasy purposes at this point in his career. It’s surprising considering he was an elite pitching prospect just a few years ago.

All of the runs came in the third on back-to-back homers from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. One was unearned because Alec Bohm started the inning with a grounder that ate up Geraldo Perdomo (based on the current standards, we were a little surprised it was ruled an error). Pfaadt’s velocity today was down about one mph from his season average. The cutter he added last year and his increased ability to generate grounders have kept him viable for the Diamondbacks, but his rotation spot is in jeopardy now with Merrill Kelly coming back. There’s a decent chance he’ll be sent down.