Brandon Pfaadt, D-backs strive to fluster struggling Phillies

Brandon Pfaadt and Taijuan Walker have gotten off to poor starts this season, but they will have another opportunity to get on track Saturday afternoon when the Arizona Diamondbacks visit the Philadelphia Phillies.

Pfaadt (0-0, 6.75 ERA) gave up five runs in six innings against the Detroit Tigers on March 31 in his first start of 2026. The right-hander then failed to make it out of the fifth inning Sunday against the Atlanta Braves, yielding three runs in 4 2/3 frames.

"It was kind of a grinder, but it was an overall team win," Pfaadt said after his teammates squeaked out a 6-5 victory in 10 innings. "It's a big, big testament to the type of team that we are."

Walker (0-2, 9.31 ERA) was pounded in his season debut on March 30, allowing seven runs (six earned) and 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings in a 13-2 loss to the Washington Nationals. His performance was a little better Sunday vs. the Colorado Rockies, who tagged the right-hander for four runs and seven hits -- including three homers -- in five innings. Colorado won 4-1.

"Rough," Walker said, assessing his early-season performances. "I feel like the stuff is good. It's playing up. But when I'm making mistakes, it's getting hit right now."

In Friday's series opener, both starting pitchers suffered through one ugly inning in the game won by Arizona, 5-4.

For Arizona starter Michael Soroka, it was a four-run first that included a three-run homer by Brandon Marsh. That 4-0 lead held up until Philadelphia starter Jesus Luzardo yielded five runs in the fifth, highlighted by two-RBI hits from Ketel Marte and James McCann.

McCann initially came on after Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno made an early exit due to back soreness.

"One inning, he's just sitting there minding his own business, and the next inning, he's calling a game and just immediately impacted the game," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said of McCann. "And then he had the big hit that clearly helped us win the game, so props to him."

Moreno's status for Saturday's matinee wasn't clear when Lovullo met with the media on Friday.

"We're going to evaluate him tonight, through the course of the morning, and find out what's going on," Lovullo said. "So he's going to be day-to-day at this point."

The Phillies have some examining to do as well, as they need to take a close look at an offense that has scored in only one of their last 29 innings. After 20 straight scoreless frames to end their trip to San Francisco, the Phillies did not score Friday after their first four batters of the game scored.

"The entire team tonight, a lot of swing-and-miss. That was really our bugaboo," Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said after his team struck out 16 times against Soroka and three relievers.

Kyle Schwarber went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, lowering his batting average to .182. Bryson Stott is batting .179 and Alec Bohm, after going 0-for-4 with three punchouts, is down to .170.

"With Bohmer, he's just missing," Thomson said. "I don't know whether it's timing or contact point. It could be a number of things."

Bohm will try to get back in a groove as he faces Pfaadt, who will make his second career start against the Phillies. He allowed seven runs in 4 2/3 innings in a 7-2 loss to Philadelphia last season.

Walker has made two career starts against Arizona -- one in each of the last two seasons -- and is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA.

--Field Level Media