The Arizona Diamondbacks announced on Friday that they have signed starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt to a five-year, $45 million contract extension. The deal, first reported by Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic, will begin in 2026 and contains a $2 million signing bonus, a $21 million club option in 2031, and a $25 million mutual option in 2032.
We have agreed with RHP Brandon Pfaadt to a 5-year contract extension through 2030 (beginning in 2026) with a club option for 2031 and mutual option for 2032.
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) March 28, 2025
Report: Diamondbacks, Brandon Pfaadt in Agreement on Five-Year Extension
Pfaadt was a fifth-round pick by the Diamondbacks in the 2020 draft and quickly worked his way through the minor leagues, eventually becoming Arizona’s 10th-ranked prospect in 2022. He made his major league debut in May of 2023 and made 18 starts in his rookie year, showcasing promising strikeout and walk rates.
Pfaadt also helped lead the Diamondbacks to the National League pennant as a rookie, making five starts in the 2023 postseason and pitching to a 3.27 ERA. He later made a key start in Game 3 of the NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers and followed that with a nine-strikeout performance in the NLCS against the Philadelphia Phillies.
In his first full season in the majors last year, Pfaadt was the Diamondbacks’ most reliable starter. He posted a 4.71 ERA in 32 starts with a strikeout rate of 24.3% and a walk rate of 5.5%. The analytics say Pfaadt is one of the more unlucky pitchers in baseball, as his xERA in 2024 was 3.78, and his xBA was .246, almost 70 points lower than the .315 BABIP he surrendered last season.
Ensuring the Future
After extending relief pitcher Justin Martinez last Friday, Diamondbacks General Manager Mike Hazen expressed his desire to extend the group of young players in Arizona.
“We wanted to keep this group together, the young group that we have assembled here on our team that has talent and the makeup and the work ethic to want to keep around, and the sense of putting them together and ensuring that they’re here on this team, within this community for a long period is very important to us,” said Hazen. Extending Pfaadt is the latest piece in ensuring the core group in Arizona is set for the coming years.
Coming into the 2025 season, Pfaadt is likely to play a big role in what looks like one of the best rotations in baseball. Headlined by Corbin Burnes and Zac Gallen, Pfaadt will join Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez as the Diamondbacks look to find themselves back in the National League playoff hunt.
Photo Credit: © Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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