DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
Andrew Saalfrank’s journey from the ACAC to AAA has been filled with ups and downs, surgeries and rehabs, but one thing has remained constant: Saalfrank continues to work his way up the ladder of the Arizona system on his quest to continue his career as a professional baseball player as long as possible.
“I’ve had a few hiccups here and there so far in my career,” says the former IU and Heritage High School star, “but I honestly wouldn’t have had it any other way. The year I spent rehabbing Tommy John surgery was a year that I was able to mature a lot both as a baseball player and a person. It’s all part of the plan, and a lot of things are out of my control. Day by day, just do what you can, and let the rest of the situation play out however it is supposed to.”
Saalfrank has played for three different teams in three different states in the western half of the United States in the last 12 months. That comes after not throwing a pitch in 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic and the aforementioned surgery.
Throwing electric stuff for the Hillsboro Hops prior to his injury, Saalfrank returned to the team in 2022 after the Hops were moved up to High-A ball in Minor League Baseball’s recent shakeup.
Late last summer, Saalfrank got the call to AA Amarillo. As a Sod Poodle, Saalfrank pitched in 13 games with mixed results, but his time there this season showed just how good the lefty reliever is. He accumulated 45 strikeouts in 31 innings with Amarillo.
On Saturday, June 17th, he threw 2.1 innings of one-hit baseball and earned the W for the Sod Poodles.
The next day, he got called into the coach’s office.
“We were all packing up our stuff and I was ready to head to Corpus Christi,” he recalls.
Instead of the ten-hour drive to play the Hooks, he was headed west.
Saalfrank chuckles that he was happy to get the promotion just before the series was set to begin in humid, mid-90s temperatures in Texas.
Saalfrank has now appeared in nine games for the Aces, who play in the Pacific Coast League, just one step away from the major leagues. He has 18 Ks in 11 innings so far.
“We are fortunate in the Diamondbacks organization,” he points out, “we have solid facilities at every level.”
The biggest difference now, he says, is maturity.
“When I was at Amarillo, I was the oldest guy on the team (because of time lost to his injury),” Saalfrank notes. “Now, I am the youngest guy and these guys are just that more serious about the game and their preparation.”
A quick moment for thought reveals that Saalfrank has just eight or nine teammates who have not already been called up to the majors in their careers.
“It’s a big difference to be surrounded by those guys now.”
Another big difference for Saalfrank is the notoriety of the opponent standing in the batter’s box.
“There are some big-name guys,” he laughs. “Guys everyone knows who are trying to get back up or on rehab stints.”
Saalfrank says he has to put the baseball fan inside him away and focus on being a professional.
“Putting that fan side away, and turning on that competitor side is huge in being able to do your job to the best of your ability.”
One of the highlights of Saalfrank’s season so far has been an inning-ending strikeout on the 4th of July of Mike Yastrzemski, a regular for the San Francisco Giants on rehab with Sacramento.
The former Heritage star says the biggest thing he has learned as a professional is the ability to listen.
“I’d say just listening and taking things in have been huge thus far for me in the month or so that I’ve been here. Regardless of whether or not it applies to me as a player/pitcher, the knowledge and things you can learn from higher level players and coaches is certainly an added benefit to playing at this level.”
With the logical next step in his career being a promotion to the big leagues, Saalfrank says he is in no rush and has no grand expectations.
“At the end of the day, I’m fortunate to be in the situation I’m in, and there’s been a lot of people that have aided me along the way, and I owe it to myself and all those people to just do things the right way. If the day comes, the day comes, and if not, at least I can say that I did everything that I could do within my control.”
The Aces are hosting Oklahoma City this week in one of the most important stretches of the season – the week leading up to the trade deadline. With the Diamondbacks in clear contention to reach the playoffs, the club is likely to be one of the buyers at the deadline, meaning Saalfrank could be in a new city with a new organization on August 1st.
