Brandon Pfaadt records career-high 12 strikeouts vs. Brewers

MILWAUKEE — The last time Brandon Pfaadt toed the rubber at American Family Field was when he started Game 1 of the 2023 National League Wild Card Series, and the right-hander would go on to play a big role for the D-backs in their run to the World Series.

If Arizona is going to make the postseason, it will need Pfaadt to be the pitcher it saw Thursday night, when he struck out a career-high 12 over seven innings in a 5-1 win over Milwaukee.

In his four starts before Thursday, Pfaadt had an 11.34 ERA and went just 16 2/3 innings. One of those starts came last weekend against the Brewers, when he allowed eight runs in 1 2/3 innings.

This time around, Pfaadt had Milwaukee’s number, allowing just two hits, one of which was a solo homer by Garrett Mitchell in the seventh. He matched a club record for consecutive strikeouts, fanning seven in a row from the fourth to the sixth innings.

“I think this was a good rebound start,” Pfaadt said. “And it’s a good time to start getting in the groove and giving our team a chance to make the postseason.”

Whereas last year, the D-backs had Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Pfaadt and then had to go with bullpen games in both the NL Championship Series and the World Series, this year they have as many as six potential starters.

The list also includes Ryne Nelson, who is currently on the IL with right shoulder inflammation but is expected back just before the end of the regular season, Eduardo Rodriguez and Jordan Montgomery.

How each pitcher fares down the stretch could go a long way toward determining who starts in the postseason, but another big part of it will be matching up with the team the D-backs end up playing.

None of it is something that Arizona manager Torey Lovullo wants to think about until his club — which is tied with the Mets for the second NL Wild Card spot — actually clinches a postseason berth.

“If we get that far, we will sit down — and we don’t just do it by what our eyes and our and our hearts tell us, we dig in about as deep as you can to find out what’s going to give us the best option,” Lovullo said. “So, all six will be considered.”

Of course, if Pfaadt keeps pitching the way he did Thursday, you can bank on him being part of a postseason rotation.

The key difference for Pfaadt in this start as opposed to his recent ones was the aggressive use of his fastball.

“I feel like the fastball was playing really well, and I kind of worked everything off that this time,” Pfaadt said. “We attacked a little bit better than last time. I think we were kind of nitpicking last time, and we weren’t able to necessarily get to those two-strike counts and we got beat. So getting to those two-strike counts, working both sides of the plate instead of just one, mixing up our approach from last game I think was crucial today.”

The right-hander was so locked in that he did not realize he had fanned seven straight hitters and came close to setting a club record with eight before Brice Turang flied out on a two-strike pitch to end the sixth.

The only two players in D-backs history to accomplish that feat were a couple of pitchers named Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling.

“I’m honored,” Pfaadt said. “That’s a cool list to be a part of.”

This is Pfaadt’s first full season in the big leagues, and Thursday was his 49th Major League start. Was it his finest?

“I would say it’s definitely one of them,” Pfaadt said. “I try not to ride the high and low wave, but this one is probably one of the top ones on the list, for sure.”