The Milwaukee Brewers are back in the playoff after missing out a season ago. Their first opponent will be the Arizona Diamondbacks in which they will meet in the Wild Card Series. This is a best of three games series and the Brew Crew will have the home field for all games played.
Leading up into the post season Arizona did not clinch a playoff berth until the second to last day of the regular season. Due to this they were unable to line up their starting pitchers like the Brewers were. According to Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo he will not ask Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly to operate on short rest and rather he has announced a rookie pitcher as their game one starter.
Arizona Diamondbacks rookie pitcher Brandon Pfaadt will start game one of the playoffs against the Milwaukee Brewers.
24 year old Brandon Pfaadt made his major league debut earlier this season. In total he appeared in 19 games for the Diamondbacks and made 18 starts. The results were mixed and overall he finished with a 5.72 ERA. Home runs were an issue for him as he gave up 22 during the regular season.
Taking his statistics a step further Brandon Pfaadt struggled immensely against teams that are in the playoffs this year. He threw a combined 19.4 innings against post-season teams and gave up 31 earned runs. This computes to a 14.38 ERA.
On the mound Brandon Pfaadt throws a 95 MPH fastball 55% of the time. He throws an 84 MPH slider the second most at 27%, 87 MPH changeup third most at 12%, and his curveball has just a 5% usage rate. The action on his slider has more of a sweeper look to it and he can alternate between a 4-seam fastball and sinker.
All of this being said the Brewers have a great opportunity in front of them to take game one against the Diamondbacks with a rookie pitcher on the mound. However, should they falter the tables will turn quickly and the pressure will be on Milwaukee presumably against Zac Gallen on regular rest.
Game one of the Wild Card Series is Tuesday, October 3 with the first pitch scheduled for 6:08 PM CT.
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