As new reliever, Brandon Pfaadt came in during Sunday's blowout loss and saved Arizona Diamondbacks' bullpen.
On Sunday, the Arizona Diamondbacks were in an early hole against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays attacked Diamondbacks starter Ryne Nelson for eight runs in the first inning, then rode that early lead to a 10-4 win at Chase Field.
After the game, though, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo gave Pfaadt, a former starting pitcher, his flowers for the effort.
“Without Brandon Pfaadt’s 6 1/3 innings coming in, we would be up against it for another three or four days,” Lovullo said, according to MLB.com. “The fact that he's able to throw 84 pitches and protect the entire bullpen and give them a day off, that was fantastic.”
Working that amount of innings meant that Lovullo was going to be able to dive into his bullpen if it's really needed this week.
Nelson had trouble figuring out what happened in his start on Sunday.
“It was a weird one,” Nelson said. “The game can be pretty unkind to you at times, and [it] felt like we were one or two balls going a foot or so in the other direction away from getting out of it, and then, hopefully, being able to go out there and throw some more quality innings. But it didn't go that way.”
There were other matters, though, on the Diamondbacks' minds after the Sunday setback.
Outfielder Corbin Carroll left midway through the game with back tightness. Carroll took the field on Sunday after connecting for a grand slam in the Diamondbacks' Saturday night victory.
Lovullo has made it clear that Carroll will be in his lineup card on Tuesday night.
What, though, did Carroll have to say about his back situation?
“It’s just a little tightness,” Carroll said. “It was enough where, in a game like that, I was fine getting out of there -- but in a closer game, [I] definitely would have stayed in there.”
With Carroll stating that he'd remained in the game if the score was closer, did Lovullo feel pretty much the same way? The Diamondbacks manager addressed the Carroll injury situation, too.
“He's definitely got some low back issues that have been taking place,” Lovullo said. “You know, I told you guys that there were some things that were happening around his body, but he's just tightly wound.”
On Monday, the Diamondbacks had a day off.
Now, on Tuesday, Arizona gets back into the 2026 MLB season with a three-game home series against the Chicago White Sox. Another day off follows on Thursday, then the San Diego Padres come into town for a quick two-game series.
The Diamondbacks will then travel to Milwaukee, Wis., for a three-game series against the always tough Milwaukee Brewers.
Right now, Arizona has a 13-9 overall record this season. The D-backs are 2.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West Division.
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