Brandon Pfaadt optioned by Diamondbacks, who also call up 2 relievers

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks will option relief pitcher Brandon Pfaadt among a series of roster moves announced on Thursday, a day after manager Torey Lovullo said there was a “strong possibility” the club would stretch Pfaadt back out.

Pfaadt will head to Triple-A Reno, while the D-backs have recalled relief pitchers Philip Abner and Kade Strowd, as Arizona Sports‘ John Gambadoro reported on Wednesday evening.

I would expect a couple of roster moves here. Pfaadt to Triple A and left-handed reliever Phillip Abner and right-handed reliever Kade Strowd up with the Diamondbacks. https://t.co/Tsw3yrKbWm

— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) June 4, 2026

The team also placed reliever Taylor Clarke on the bereavement/family medical emergency list, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert first reported on Thursday.

Pfaadt opened the season in the starting rotation after leading the team in starts over the previous two seasons, but he became the odd man out after Merrill Kelly returned from the injured list. Since April 19, Pfaadt has made 10 appearances out of the bullpen as the team’s long reliever, as Arizona has wanted to keep Pfaadt stretched out to a degree just in case something went awry in the rotation.

“It’s very challenging,” Lovullo said of handling Pfaadt’s workload. “It gives me a lot of anxiety trying to figure out how to fit him in, how to use him, how to keep him stretched out. There’s a lot that’s built around him. And he just keeps plowing away. He keeps trying to do his best to fit in any way we ask him to.”

Pfaadt threw 37 pitches on Wednesday but only recorded three outs. He has not completed multiple innings in any of his last five appearances.

The Diamondbacks’ pitching plans have taken a hit. Ace Corbin Burnes will not be back by his target date in July, as he suffered a teres major strain and will not be back until September, maybe.

Pitcher Cristian Mena will undergo shoulder surgery to sideline him for the foreseeable future, as the pitching depth behind Arizona’s starting five has thinned out.

Pfaadt’s importance to eat innings has gone up, although Lovullo said on Thursday that the club was leaning toward optioning Pfaadt to stretch him out before the recent Burnes update.

“We asked a lot of him to be as flexible as possible, stay at the big league level, pitch out of the bullpen, try to get him stretched out but it just became a little bit too much for us,” Lovullo said. “I feel like he began to struggle, lost a little bit of his feel for some of his pitches. To go down and get reps and get stretched out, especially given the Corbin Burnes information that we’ve recently gotten, to get him stretched out to be our sixth starter sitting in Triple-A made the most sense.”

Strowd, a right-hander, will make his D-backs debut after joining the club in an offseason trade with the Baltimore Orioles.

Arizona sent utility player Blaze Alexander to Baltimore for Strowd, pitching prospect Wellington Aracena and infield prospect Jose Mejia.

Strowd is coming off five straight scoreless appearances in Reno, although they include five walks and three strikeouts. He has swing-and-miss stuff and an elite 62.7% ground ball rate this year, but walks have raised his WHIP to 1.80. His ERA in 20 innings this year in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League is 4.95.

Abner will come up for the second time this season. The lefty has made one appearance in MLB this year and 19 in Triple-A with a 5.12 ERA and 3.18 FIP. He has allowed two earned runs in his last seven innings with eight strikeouts.

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