We have seen many top prospects make their MLB Debut this season. Including the Seattle Mariners’ No. 2 prospect Bryce Miller who pitched a gem in his debut, finishing six scoreless innings with only allowing one run and two hits. He also punched out 10 batters on only 81 pitches while flashing some impressive stuff. Another prospect can be added to that list on Wednesday, as the Diamondbacks plan to promote Brandon Pfaadt.
The D-Backs No. 3 prospect has officially been added to the roster. They have designated Seth Beer for assignment in order to make room on the 40-Man roster. As well as optioned Peter Solomon to Reno to make room on the Active Roster. Pfaadt, 24, was the fifth-round pick by the Diamondbacks in the 2020 Draft. Pfaadt has emerged through the ranks even with a Covid-shortened season that had no minor league season. He rose through three levels of the minors, going from Single-A to High-A and Double-A in 2021, tossing 131 2/3 innings total with a combined 3.21 ERA.
Last year, Brandon Pfaadt would continue to impress, throwing 167 innings between Double-A and Triple-A with a 3.83 ERA, 31.6% strikeout rate and 4.6% walk rate. The Diamondbacks sent him to Triple-A, where he’s posted a 3.91 ERA through five starts, striking out 28.6% of opponents while walking just 5.7%. As he’s been doing that, the Diamondbacks have been playing well, 16-13 record, despite an inconsistent rotation.
Other Starters
Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelley have lead the rotation as expected, but the rest of the group has not been as successful. The D-Backs released Madison Bumgarner after he posted a 10.26 ERA across four starts. Ryne Nelson and Tommy Henry have both posted 6.00+ ERA’s to start the season. Zach Davies is currently on the IL with an Oblique Strain and Drey Jameson was optioned after struggling through three starts.
There may be some uncertainty, but calling up Pfaadt to see if he’s ready is worth a shot for the Diamondbacks. With a month of the season past, he won’t be able to earn a full year of service time, at least not the traditional way. The latest collective bargaining agreement has a couple of measures to discourage teams from trying to manipulate a player’s service time and delay their free agency.
One of those measures is that a player can still get a full-service year even if they didn’t spend the requisite 172 days in the majors. Any player with less than 60 days’ service time at the start of a season who is on two of the top 100 prospect lists at Baseball America, ESPN or MLB Pipeline can still get a full year if they finish in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting. Both Adley Rutschman and Michael Harris II managed to get a full year of service this way last year.
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