LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville native and Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Pfaadt delivered another solid postseason performance Monday night in Game 3 of the World Series.
The former Trinity High School and Bellarmine University standout allowed three earned runs and four hits in 5 and 1/3 innings. He struck out four and walked two on 87 pitches.
It was Pfaadt's fifth start of the MLB playoffs. The 6-foot-4 righty has been been stellar in October, posting a 2.70 ERA in 16 2/3 innings before Monday's game against the Texas Rangers.
Pfaadt made his first start since striking out seven batters and helping Arizona take Game 7 of the NLCS from the Philadelphia Phillies last week. Did he think this was in the cards back in spring training?
"Probably not," Pfaadt told reporters Sunday ahead of Game 3. "But it was always in the picture. I think we struggled early on but we knew the outcome, if it were to get in this spot, that we would be here and ready to help our team win."
He also started Game 3 of the NLCS, throwing 5 2/3 shutout innings. He became just the 13th rookie in MLB history to start a Game 7.
Ironically enough, Pfaadt made his MLB debut in May against the Rangers. He had an up-and-down rookie year, posting a record of 3-9 in the regular season with 5.72 ERA.
Now he's playing the best baseball of his young MLB career.
“I think both fastballs have felt better than ever since the end of the year and compared to early on,” Pfaadt said. “And I think that's opening up every offspeed, and it's helping out those pitches when we need to pull those out of our back pocket and show those as well.”
Bellarmine cheering on one of their own
Several signs showing support for Pfaadt adorn the Bellarmine baseball stadium and surrounding neighborhood.
Pfaadt was 8-6 with a 4.09 ERA in college, and mostly worked as a relief pitcher. In his final season in 2020, he was 3-1 with a tidy 1.38 ERA before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the remainder of the year.
The Diamondbacks selected Pfaadt with the 149th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB draft. He spent three seasons in Arizona's minor league system before getting called up the Big Leagues.
Don't call it "Lou-E-ville"
Pfaadt shared a light-hearted moment with a reporter Sunday who asked him about his early days in Louisville. After he mispronounced the city, Pfaadt politely reminded him of the preferred pronunciation.
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