This Labor Day will be an extra special one for Andrew Saalfrank, his family and everyone involved in the Heritage baseball program as the Arizona Diamondbacks announced this afternoon that the lefty had been recalled from AAA Reno for the team’s home game against the Colorado Rockies Monday afternoon.
The Diamondbacks sit at 70-67 and are one of three times tied with that record for the final playoff spot in the National League.
Since being called up from AA Amarillo in mid-June, Saalfrank had appeared in 23 games for the Reno Aces, striking out a whopping 48 batters in just 30 innings of work. He last pitched for Reno on Friday, when he threw 1.1 innings.
Saalfrank was drafted by the Diamonbacks in the sixth round out of Indiana University, but his career was derailed by Tommy John surgery and the cancellation of the 2020 season due to Covid.
Now, he is one bullpen phone call away from pitching in a major league baseball game.
WZBD highlighted Saalfrank’s promotion to AAA in a story in July. You can read that story here.