Diamondbacks' Andrew Saalfrank: Back on track with second save
Rotowire
Saalfrank struck out one in a perfect inning to earn the save in Tuesday's 6-5 win over the Guardians.
Saalfrank took a blown save in Colorado on Saturday, allowing two runs in two-thirds of an inning. He bounced back with a sharp outing Tuesday, needing just nine pitchers to retire the Cleveland trio of Jose Ramirez, Kyle Manzardo and Carlos Santana. It's interesting that Saalfrank got the nod for this save when fellow left-hander Jalen Beeks had pitched just once over the previous four days. Arizona's bullpen has turned into a full-blown committee throughout the year between injuries and ineffectiveness. Saalfrank has been a breath of fresh air, pitching to a 1.72 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 10:5 K:BB over 15.2 innings while picking up two saves and one hold. It's unclear if this outing is a signal that the 28-year-old will be competing for more save chances down the stretch, but he has taken care of business in lower-leverage spots to earn a larger role.
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Diamondbacks' Andrew Saalfrank: Records blown save Saturday
Rotowire
Saalfrank was charged with a blown save in Saturday's 10-7 loss against the Rockies. He allowed two runs on two hits over two-thirds of an inning.
The southpaw entered in the eighth inning with a one-run lead, one out and two runners in scoring position, and he promptly gave up the lead by allowing a two-run single to Kyle Farmer. A few batters later, Saalfrank served up a two-run homer to Tyler Freeman. Saalfrank came into Saturday's outing with a sparkling 0.64 ERA through 14 innings on the season, but some regression was inevitable -- after Saturday's performance, he carries a 1.84 ERA to go along with a 1.16 WHIP.
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Diamondbacks' Andrew Saalfrank: Earns first big-league save
Rotowire
Saalfrank delivered a perfect ninth inning Wednesday to record the save in a 6-4 victory over the Rangers.
With Jalen Beeks unavailable after pitching Tuesday and Kyle Backhus working in the seventh inning, it was Saalfrank who got the call for the save after Arizona took the lead with four runs in the top half of the ninth inning. The left-hander got the job done, setting down the top of the Rangers order to earn his first major-league save. The 27-year-old Saalfrank has been impressive since rejoining the Diamondbacks in early July. He's allowed just one run while striking out nine in his first 14 MLB innings this year, establishing himself as a high-leverage option down the stretch.
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Diamondbacks' Andrew Saalfrank: Reinstated, sent to rookie ball
Rotowire
The Diamondbacks reinstated Saalfrank (suspension) from the ineligible list and optioned him to the rookie-level Arizona Complex League on Thursday.
Saalfrank will take back a spot on the Diamondbacks' 40-man roster and will be available to compete again after he served a one-year suspension stemming from violations of MLB's gambling policy. Before he was handed the ban last June, Saalfrank appeared in two games out of the Arizona bullpen but had otherwise pitched exclusively at Triple-A Reno, where he logged a 2.63 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 28:10 K:BB in 24 innings. Since he wasn't able to pitch in any rehab games while he was suspended, Saalfrank will ease back into action in rookie ball before likely reporting back to Reno within the next few weeks.
