Former Indiana Baseball Pitcher Andrew Saalfrank Called Up by Arizona Diamondbacks
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Former Indiana pitcher Andrew Saalfrank has been called up by the Arizona Diamondbacks for his first Major League Baseball action.
Saalfrank played at IU from 2017-19 and had a storied career on the mound. The lefty pitcher didn't produce much during his freshman and sophomore seasons, but absolutely dominated as a junior in 2019.
He finished that season with an 8-1 record as a starter, a 2.84 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 73 innings pitched. For his efforts, Saalfrank was named the 2019 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and a Collegiate Baseball Second-Team All American.
Saalfrank was a part of a great baseball team in Bloomington that year in 2019. It was the Hoosiers' first season under now six-year head coach Jeff Mercer, wherein Indiana won the Big Ten regular season title and finished with a 17-7 record in conference, and a 37-23 record overall.
Following the 2019 college baseball season, Saalfrank was selected by the Diamondbacks in the sixth round of the 2019 MLB Draft with the 182nd overall pick.
Saalfrank started the 2023 season playing Double-A ball for the Amarillo Sod Poodles in Texas. However, the left-handed reliever was called up to Triple-A in Reno, Nev., after 21 games of domination. The Diamondbacks wanted to see how Saalfrank would perform being moved up a level and to an extremely hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
During his 23 games with the Reno Aces, Saalfrank finished with a 4-2 record and a 2.93 ERA, and now at 25 years-old, he's finally made it to the game's highest level in Arizona.
The Indiana pitcher also said that he got his call up to the Diamondbacks while making a sandwich and preparing to leave for a game with Reno. His girlfriend told him it was Aces' manager Blake Lalli on the phone, which could only mean two things.
"I knew I was either getting cut, or going up," Saalfrank said. "I'd like to think that I wasn't getting cut at the time. So yeah, definitely the best call I've had in a while."
Arizona plays the second of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday at 8:40 p.m. ET. Following the conclusion of that series, the Diamondbacks travel to Wrigley Field for four games against the Chicago Cubs from starting on Thursday.
Tune in to those games to potentially see Saalfrank in his first major league action.
Related Stories on Indiana Baseball:
- FORMER IU BASEBALL PLAYER HIRED AS NORTHWESTERN COACH: Former Indiana baseball player Ben Greenspan was hired as Northwestern's new head coach this summer. CLICK HERE