Diamondbacks’ Ryne Nelson advises Brandon Pfaadt for how to handle bullpen move

If there’s anyone who understands personally what Brandon Pfaadt is experiencing with his move to the bullpen, it is his friend and longtime Arizona Diamondbacks teammate Ryne Nelson.

Nelson, despite performing outstandingly in the second half of 2024, was on the outside looking into the rotation entering 2025.

The D-backs opted to keep him on the team as a long reliever, and despite being jostled around, Nelson attacked the assignment. He stayed stretched out enough to ramp back up as a starter when needed and was one of the game’s most effective in the latter months (3.38 ERA after June 1, ranked 19th in MLB among starters).

Pfaadt has been a constant in the rotation over the past two seasons. He made 65 starts from 2024-25 after earning respect from his 2023 postseason performance. But his numbers have been shaky (5.02 ERA since 2024).

With Merrill Kelly back from the injured list and free agent signee Michael Soroka pitching well early on, Pfaadt is being moved to a bullpen role for the first time as a major leaguer.

The Diamondbacks’ TV broadcast displayed a shot of Pfaadt sitting in the bullpen in between Ryan Thompson and Andrew Hoffmann on Tuesday. He looked out of place, a visual that the organization and pitcher himself probably did not envision when they agreed to a contract extension last spring.

Nelson told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo that he’s already shared advice with Pfaadt on how to handle the change, including his rolling-with-the-punches attitude.

“I told him to attack it with the best mindset that he can and to not get in his head about feeling like it’s an emotion or anything like that,” Nelson said. “I think that it can weigh on you a little bit mentally. And the more positive you can be about it, the better it’s going to be just in general.

“I was just letting him know that I was open to like talking about the routines that I would go through, because it can be tough when you’re out there, like you’re not on a set schedule. You don’t really know when you’re going to pitch. So, being able to get the in-between work that you would get when you’re a starter, it can be kind of difficult in the ‘pen. … Just trying to let him know that he’s still a really good major league pitcher and that he’s going to be a really good pitcher for a long time.”

Nelson and Pfaadt were drafted a year apart, with Nelson debuting at the end of 2022 and Pfaadt in May 2023.

Pfaadt has one relief appearance in his big league career when the D-backs used an opener in a September game in 2023, and Pfaadt still threw six innings. In the minor leagues, Pfaadt never came out of the bullpen. You’d have to go back to 2019 Cape Cod Baseball League action to find the last time he did so regularly.

He made 34 starts of at least six innings from 2024-25, 21st in MLB as he consistently ate innings, but too many home runs and crooked-number innings prevented him from making the leap to front-end starter.

The Diamondbacks opted against optioning Pfaadt to Triple-A Reno to keep him on a starter’s schedule, but Pfaadt is still an “extension” of the team’s starting pitching depth, assistant general manager Jeremy Bleich told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke.

Corbin Burnes is making his way back, but not until around the All-Star break in July. Pfaadt is the next line of defense in case something happens to another starter.

Bleich, who was brought in to improve Arizona’s pitching infrastructure this past offseason, explained that Pfaadt can develop and help the team win games as a reliever at the same time.

“I think the third part is there are absolutely steps forward that he knows he can take, we believe he can take, we’re going to help him take to then hopefully reapply to a length role at some point,” Bleich said.

“I think he attacks the zone really well. Continuing to keep hitters off-balance, get misses are things that he can do, he will do and hopefully he can continue to take those steps developmentally while he’s serving a role as part of the eight-man bullpen. So we’re challenging him in multiple ways and also happy that he’s still within our group of 13 to help us win games every night.”

What went into the decision to move Brandon Pfaadt to the bullpen?

Diamondbacks assistant GM Jeremy Bleich explains the move while on with @WolfandLuke.

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Pfaadt last pitched on Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies, throwing 101 pitches. The first game he will likely be available for in relief is Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays.

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