Today’s LineupsRoster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves. The D-backs’ 40-man roster is at 40.

Recalled from Triple-A Reno: LHP Phillip Abner (No. 50)

The big move is, of course, the exit of Pfaadt from the active roster. Little more than a year ago, he had signed a five-year, $45 million contract extension covering the years 2026-30. That bought out his arbitration years, and gave the team an option for 2031, as well as a mutual option for 2032. Despite his success in the 2023 playoffs, it was an interesting move considering Pfaadt at the time had made 50 regular season starts and been replacement level, with a 5.06 ERA. Things since he inked the deal have only gone downhill: a 5.25 ERA in 2025, and a 5.94 ERA in three starts this year, before getting bumped to the bullpen. Things hardly improved (5.91 ERA), and led to today’s move.

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It’s not an enormous surprise, Torey Lovullo saying they wanted to get Pfaadt stretched out as a starter again. He hasn’t thrown 40 pitches in a game for more than a month. Along with the news that Corbin Burnes won’t be back until September (if at all), it means the team has little starting depth, if any replacement for the current rotation were to be needed. So far, the team has been lucky, needing only six starting pitchers. But with Mitch Bratt currently on the minor-league IL, we’d perhaps be looking at a call-up for Thomas Hatch. A 4.01 ERA across 11 starts in the Pacific Coast League is good. But he’s only averaging fourteen outs per game for Reno.

We also note the temporary absence for Clarke. Don’t know any of the details, and it’s frankly none of our business. But I hope whatever it is, gets taken care of, and Clarke is able to come back with a good mind. He has been an excellent part of the bullpen with a 1.73 ERA (and almost of that due to the Opening Day blow-up in LA), and his 26 relief innings leads the club this season. We’ll see whether it’s Abner or Strowd who becomes a long-term resident of the Diamondbacks bullpen, with the other presumably going back down when Clarke returns.

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