LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Brandon Pfaadt is not supposed to be there, you know.
I'm not talking about being there on the mound, starting for the Arizona Diamondbacks against future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer and Texas in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night.
Nobody is supposed to be there. But Pfaadt, the pride of Trinity High School and Bellarmine University, is there, inspiring watch parties of World Series coverage (on WDRB) across this town.
What if last April somebody would have asked Pfaadt, 25, about the idea of him starting the first World Series game played in Phoenix in 22 years?
"(My answer) probably would have been, 'Probably not,'" Pfaadt said Sunday at a World Series news conference.
"I think I watched one World Series game last year. I was definitely back home. ... Honestly, I don't really even watch sports."
But forget the World Series fantasy. How many homegrown Louisville kids have made it to the major leagues over the last three decades?
Will Smith. Adam Duvall. Jo Adell. Jeremy Sowers. Chris Burke. Paul Byrd. Matt Anderson. Scott Downs. Maybe one or two more. Not enough to fill out a lineup card.
Pfaadt's story of being tasked to win a critical World Series game is more improbable than any of those stories because those players performed at Power 5 college programs that pump out legitimate prospects.
A college coach saw them behind the plate, in the outfield or on the mound and decided they had to have them. People predicted special things from them when they were 14, 15 or 16.
Not Pfaadt.
When he was 15, he was a third baseman and part-time pitcher on the junior varsity at Trinity High School. He pitched for the Shamrocks' varsity as a junior and senior but didn't show enough sizzle with the bat, glove or arm to inspire Louisville or Kentucky to offer a quarter of a scholarship.
Good, sure. MLB prospect good? No.
Blame that silly radar gun obsession.
You've got to consistently throw the ball at least 90 mph before a Power 5 coach or major league scout will scribble a star next to your name.
Pfaadt threw hard. But it was high school hard. Mid- to high-80s.
Sorry, young man. Keep working on your game. The radar gun rules.
As dependably successful as Pfaadt was at Trinity, his three primary college baseball opportunities were Austin Peay, Murray State and Bellarmine.
Solid programs but not Rice (where Anderson pitched and became the first overall MLB Draft pick in 1997), Tennessee (Burke, another first rounder in 2001) LSU (Byrd), Vanderbilt (Sowers, first rounder), Louisville (Smith, Duvall, Adell) or Kentucky (Downs).
"He's such a great kid with a determination to succeed," said Larry Owens, the former Bellarmine baseball coach. "It was a perfect fit with our program.
"We were very fortunate that Brandon developed late and that his family had that connection to Bellarmine."
It's difficult to imagine a family with stronger Bellarmine DNA. Brandon's grandfather, Bob, 85, played baseball for the Knights before becoming a legendary history professor with a speciality in Western Civilization as well as European and Russian history.
His father, Brian, played soccer at Bellarmine and works at the school. His mother, Stacey (Acton), played basketball at the University of Louisville after starring at Pulaski County High School.
Brandon's younger brother, Brett, played shortstop for Bellarmine this season, and his older brother, Brady, caught for the Knights before Brandon arrived.
Owens, now the athletic director at Jeffersonville High School, knew all that. Everybody at Bellarmine knows the contributions of the Pfaadt family.
But what convinced him to bring Pfaadt into his program was the sound of Brandon throwing a baseball. Maybe it did not light up a radar gun, but Owens was certain it sounded different.
"The first time I saw him, he was taking ground balls at third base before a game," Owens said. "When he threw the ball across the infield, it was just different. Just that popping sound a coach like to hear. You know it when you hear it."
Rick Arnold coached Pfaadt at Trinity High School. He agreed with Owens. There was something there.
Pfaadt simply needed to grow into his narrow 6-foot-4-inch frame. Worry less about playing third base and concentrate on his pitching. That was his ticket.
And, like most 16-year-olds, Pfaadt also needed a stern nudge in the right direction in the weight room.
At Trinity, Arnold said the most dynamic workers on his team trained in the back right corner of the room. That was not the spot where Arnold saw Pfaadt during his offseason work. Arnold remembers telling Pfaadt and one of his buddies it was time to get serious in the weight room.
"I only had to tell him once," Arnold said. "After that, he was always in the back right corner. He's a very intelligent, determined kid."
After that, Pfaadt was on his way, step by step to this moment. Despite a terrific senior season, no Power 5 schools offered ever a tiny partial scholarship, even after Arnold called UK and told them Pfaadt could help them. Truth be told, most college baseball scholarship are claimed by ninth-, 10th- and 11th-graders. It was too late. Every spot was taken.
"There was always the concern that one of the bigger programs would come after him," Owens said. "But Brandon is a very loyal and appreciative. And we always recruited him hard, like the family connections were not there."
It worked.
Pfaadt continued to work. Owens said that at the insistence of his older brother, Brady (the catcher), Brandon gave up his infielder's glove and concentrated on pitching, training the way a serious pitcher trains year round.
As a freshman at Bellarmine, Pfaadt was just a guy, losing three of five decisions while allowing 30 hits in 28 1/3 innings.
Owens placed him in a college summer league in Minnesota. Pfaadt's confidence and performance grew. He struck out 64 hitters in 45 1/3 innings.
As a sophomore, he became one of Bellarmine's best relievers, winning two games and saving two more. Owens will never forget a game in Missouri where Pfaadt threw his first immaculate inning: nine pitches, nine strikes, three strikeouts.
"His confidence really jumped after that," Owens said.
As a former major league baseball scout, Owens is connected across baseball. Pfaadt benefited from those connections. In the summer of 2019, Owens arranged for a two-week opportunity for Pfaadt to pitch for Wareham (Massachsuetts) Gateman in the Cape Cod League, the premier summer amateur league in the nation.
Pfaadt's parents made plans to visit him by Week 2 because they wanted to see the Cape before Brandon went elsewhere.
No need to rush. Pfaadt pitched so well for Wareham that he was asked to stay the entire season. Allowing only 19 hits in 32 innings, Pfaadt won a pair of games and saved another.
Take another look at the radar gun. Pfaadt consistently threw his fastball in the low-90s, with a harsh, late-breaking slider that dipped out of the corner of the strike zone, away from right handed hitters.
"It was just a natural progression," Owens said. "He was going to develop. It was going to happen. You've got to work. It's not a given. But you could see he had the ability. But he worked. He worked hard. He still works hard."
Prepare for the frenzy. If you pitch well in the Cape Cod league, you put your name on the Must See scouting list of all 32 major league baseball teams.
"It got pretty crazy," Owens said. "The first home game that Brandon pitched, I had requests from 25 or 30 scouts.
"Well, we didn't have a press box or seating behind home plate (at Bellarmine). So I had to find tables and folding chairs and some batting screens to protect everybody in two rows behind the plate."
That was the 2020 season. It is also remembered as the COVID-19 season. Pfaadt pitched in five games, winning three of them before the season was canceled. He struck out 27 and allowed only 24 baserunners (no home runs) in 25 innings.
Would it be enough to get Pfaadt drafted in a year when major league baseball limited its draft to five rounds (160) players because of the pandemic?
It would — barely.
Arizona called his name with the No. 149 pick, the 18th selection of the fifth and final round.
Arizona offered him $100,000 to sign
Pfaadt had a choice. Take the small bonus or return for his senior season and play his way into seven-figure, first-round draft status.
"I told him we would support him either way," Owens said. "He's such a great kid and a great teammate. He handles everything with such a level-headed approach."
Pfaadt bet on himself. He signed with Arizona, starting a three-season grind through minor league baseball that has taken him from Visalia, California, (Low A) to Hillsboro, Oregon, (High A) to Amarillo, Texas (Double-A) to Reno, Nevada (Triple A).
At every stop, Pfaadt averaged more strikeouts than innings pitched, inspiring Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen to identify Pfaadt as the team's top pitching prospect. Before the season, baseball insider Keith Law ranked Pfaadt the 38th-best prospect in baseball.
Confirmation came on May 3 when Pfaadt made his big league debut. And the evidence keeps coming.
Although Pfaadt won only three of 12 decisions for Arizona this season and was returned to the minor leagues and then called up two more times, he has been the talk of the 602 area code in October.
Gave Arizona 2 2/3 challenging innings in their Game 1 victory over Milwaukee in the Wild Card round.
Started and pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings as Arizona completed a three-game sweep of the Dodgers in the NL Division Series round.
Started and pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts as the Diamondbacks won Game 3 over the Phillies in the NL Championship Series.
Started and pitched four solid innings as Arizona completed its comeback from an 0-2 deficit to earn a spot in the World Series by defeating Philadelphia in seven games.
Four games. Four Arizona wins.
Over four post-season appearances, Pfaadt has allowed five runs in 16 2/3 innings with striking out 22 and walking only three.
Now comes this night and this unlikely matchup. Game 3 of the World Series. Against Max Scherzer, an eight-time all-star, a three-time Cy Young winner, a guy being paid ($43.3 million) like the certain Hall of Famer that he is.
"To do what Brandon has done?" Owens said. "Just playing in the big leagues, the odds are astronomical.
"You can do it. But to do what he's done, to be on this stage and pitch in the games that he's pitched in? I don't know. I'm sure it's happened, in some form or fashion, but man ..."
Well, Brandon? The other guy on the mound has 214 career victories. You have three, all of them since Aug. 25.
"Yeah, I think there's always pressure in these moments," Pfaadt said. "But I think that's why, after repetition and practice, I think that's where it all comes into play.
"I think we've had a few postseason starts now. So we've gotten that under our belt. I think the step gets higher and higher, but we're ready for it."
He certainly has been ready for it this October.
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