Louisville native pitches Diamondbacks to World Series

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - While the Reds may not be in the World Series, there is still a rooting interest for baseball fans in Louisville when the Fall Classic begins on Friday night.

That comes in the form of Arizona Diamondbacks rookie pitcher Brandon Pfaadt, a Louisville native and former standout at Trinity and Bellarmine.

In the D-Backs Game 7 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday, Pfaadt struck out seven and allowed two runs in four innings.

Pfaadt made his MLB debut on May 3 against the Rangers, the team he’ll take the mound against in the World Series. The Bellarmine star struggled in his 19 regular season games, posting a 5.72 ERA and a 3-9 record but he did have 94 strikeouts and averaged 8.8 punchouts per nine innings.

However, in the postseason, Pfaadt has dazzled. In his four starts, the Diamondbacks are unbeaten, but his best two performances came in Game 3 against the Dodgers and Game 3 against the Phillies.

Against his division foe, Pfaadt threw 4.1 innings and didn’t allow a run before coming out. He held the potent Phillies offense to zero runs in NLCS Game 3 as well, this time going 5.2 innings and striking out nine.

Going from AAA just three months ago after being sent down after a June 29 start against the Tampa Bay Rays to being in the starting rotation in the World Series has been an indescribable journey for the Louisvillian.

“You really can’t (describe it) and it’s unbelievable,” he said. “To think that was three months ago and now that we’re here, it’s unbelievable.”

The Game 7 celebration at the Phillies’ Citizen Bank Park was a family one for Pfaadt, whose brothers made the road trip to watch him play.

“There’s probably going to be some tears,” he said about what he’d say to them when he saw them. “They came out to most every game. I can’t thank them enough.”

His brothers weren’t the only ones who got a shoutout from the rookie as his teammates celebrated behind him. Pfaadt also shouted out his grandpa Bob, who he credits with “starting all of this.”

“I love him to death. I wouldn’t be here without him.”

The World Series begins Friday at 8:03 with the Rangers having home field advantage, meaning that it begins on the same field Pfaadt’s big league journey began. However, Zac Gallen is the projected starter for the Diamonbacks opposite Texas’ Nathan Eovaldi.

FanGraphs has Pfaadt as the D-Backs’ projected starter for Game 3 on Monday, Oct. 30 against Max Scherzer.