SAN DIEGO — Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Andrew Saalfrank was crushed when his agent delivered the news.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he recalls saying.
Right before the start of his season in Triple-A Reno, Saalfrank received word that he was under MLB investigation for betting on baseball during his early days in the minor leagues.
He pitched two months knowing the hammer would come down at some point, and on June 4, 2024, he received his one-year suspension from the league.
“I think the worst part about it was just playing while going through that,” Saalfrank said. “When it finally came out, I think it was like almost the stress was off my shoulders, just in terms of you don’t have to live with that anymore and can start the year. … It was a tough, as you could expect, couple days, weeks, months. … I think I just tried to make the most of it.”
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Saalfrank, while recovering from Tommy John surgery in 2021 and 2022 bet on major league games, including four Diamondbacks games. He never bet on his assigned team, an important distinction as that would have resulted in a lifetime ban.
He was able to return to Salt River Fields in May, a month before his reinstatement. The D-backs quickly re-assigned him to Triple-A Reno, and on Wednesday, he was recalled to the major leagues.
The D-backs need depth in a depleted bullpen, and Saalfrank successfully kept in shape and is ready to present himself as an option.
“I think the first couple months were the hardest just in terms of such a long road ahead and you’re only looking at the end of the road,” Saalfrank said. “I think once I put the head down and went to work and did what I’m used to doing, you just have that date circled on your calendar.”
The Diamondbacks recalled reliever Andrew Saalfrank, who was reinstated from a yearlong gambling ban last month, ahead of today's game against the Padres.
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Saalfrank got a place in Phoenix after his MLB debut in 2023, so he trained locally, watching a lot of Diamondbacks games even though it stung at first. He mentioned his agency has a training facility in Cave Creek that he used to keep up.
The sense of normalcy returned when he got back to Salt River Fields, and at that point, jumping back into competition was the main hurdle.
“There were a lot of dark days,” Saalfrank said. “Super fortunate that the D-backs gave me the opportunity to even stay in the first place. … When everything came out and they showed me what everything was, just tried to take responsibility for everything that happened and move forward. Obviously, I’m not that person anymore and super happy to say that.
“If you’re breaking rules, you’re not gonna get around it,” he added. “Not that it was my expectation or anything like that, but I think that’s part of it. I had to go through the punishment for the thing I did and it was what it was.”
Saalfrank made his MLB debut in September 2023, and he delivered a scoreless final month of the regular season for a suddenly lethal bullpen. He played a role during Arizona’s run to the World Series with 5.2 postseason innings.
Saalfrank said he will have the same pitch mix (sinker-curveball) with the goal of filling up the strike zone. The time away, he felt, allowed for some refinement before jumping back in the arena.
How long he stays or what role he plays isn’t certain, but bullpen depth is a need, and Saalfrank can determine his worth to the 2025 D-backs on the mound for the first time.
“He’s missed a lot of time and he’s figured out a way to stay active, stay involved,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I go all the way back to that original conversation, he took ownership for what he did.
“I’ll never forget the phone call he made to me when we connected for the first time after the suspension. … We got a pitcher that’s helped us win games before, and we anticipate that happens again in the future.”
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