By the narrowest possible margin!
I left the poll up for as long as I could, hoping that we would be able to reach a decisive winner, but the margin never seemed to be more than a couple of votes. For a while, the score was tied, which would have led to a tie-breaking vote from the executive officer in charge of the ballot, e.g. me. I certainly did not want to go down that road, being medically allergic to anything approaching “responsibility”. I finally had to close voting on Friday morning, and at the point I did so, the results were as follows:
You can’t get much closer than that. It feels kinda appropriate for Saalfrank to be announced as the winner, in this season of goodwill to all men. He certainly wasn’t the only player on the 2025 D-backs to attempt the Redemption Arc storyline this year. We also had Shelby Miller, who arrived as a non-roster invitee, and one of the most generally despised pitchers in team history, only to make the roster out of spring training, eventually rising to become the team’s closer. Saalfrank’s season was almost as dramatic, beginning the season in the literal wilderness before returning to become one of the most/few reliable arms in the Arizona bullpen.
You therefore can’t discuss Saalfrank’s 2025, without discussing his 2024. For he received a one-year suspension in early June, after he was found to have placed bets on baseball games. While there was absolutely no indication he did so on contests in which he was involved (and he apparently was not very good at it, winning only five of his 28 MLB wagers), it was a clear breach of MLB’s Rule 21, which is posted in every clubhouse. Manager Torey Lovullo didn’t pull his punches, saying of Saalfrank. “He made a bad decision… The reason is simple. We have to protect the integrity of this game. Andrew knew that. He understood that. And he made a really bad decision.”
Saalfrank had made only a couple of appearances for the D-backs, and they hadn’t gone well. But he had been effective in Reno, despite the investigation looming over his head – his agent informed him about it on Triple-A Opening Day. Still, it meant had gone from pitching in the World Series, to being ineligible to play at any level, in little more than 18 months. Even though Andrew was only 27 years old, and it could certainly have been worse – Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano got a lifetime ban in the same investigation – you had to wonder if this could possibly be the end for him.
While he was unable to play, Saalfrank kept working out and throwing, as best he could, during the suspension. He said he “just tried to make the most of it and turn it into a positive more than a negative. [I worked on] myself as a person, as a baseball player, as a son, as a boyfriend. There’s so many different facets that I had time to spend on, that as a baseball player you normally don’t have. I’d obviously rather have been playing, but still trying to make the most of the time I had.” He was able to work out at Salt River Fields during the final thirty days, and after a couple of tune-ups in the Arizona Complex League, was returned to the Reno Aces roster.
Little more than a month later, he was back in the big leagues. His performances in the minors had not been impressive, to be honest. Between the ACL and PCL, he had thrown thirteen innings, walked thirteen batters, and allowed thirteen earned runs. But at the start of July, the Diamondbacks bullpen resembled a meat grinder: in less than a week, the team lost three of their most reliable arms to the IL, in Ryan Thompson, Shelby Miller and Jalen Beeks. It was during this period that Saalfrank got the call, making his season debut on July 12. There were nerves – how could it be otherwise? – but he got past them, and pitched two scoreless innings against the Angels.
Over the rest of the season, Saalfrank re-established himself as a credible option for Lovullo, and gradually began to see higher-leverage situations. Pitching coach Bryan Kaplan was impressed: “He’s a unique slot, really unique pitch shapes, the velocity probably a little bit lighter than what they expect at the back of the game. It’s just hard for guys to plan for or feel like they’ve seen it before. So it just sneaks up on them.” Saalfrank also added a new pitch to his arsenal, incorporating a cut fastball, which he says has ”made the other two pitches for me a lot better… hitters don’t necessarily have to look just bottom half. So that’s opened up my game a little bit.”
The final result? 29 innings and a 1.29 ERA. That’s the lowest in franchise history by any pitcher with 25+ IP, edging out A.J. Puk’s 1.32 last year. Perhaps Saalfrank’s best outing came on August 27, when he recorded a five-out save against the Brewers in Milwaukee. But I’ll leave a detailed breakdown of his year for Makakilo in Monday’s player review! Andrew does appear to have lost a bit of velo, with all his pitches about 3-4 mph slower than they were before the suspension. Will that come back in 2026? We’ll see. But I’d not mind seeing that redemption arc continue further for Saalfrank. I certainly imagine valuable lessons have been learned by the player!
Previous winners
- 2024: Justin Martinez
- 2023: Corbin Carroll
- 2022: Jake McCarthy
- 2021: Pavin Smith
- 2020: Daulton Varsho
- 2019: Christian Walker
- 2018: Yoshihisa Hirano
- 2017: Jimmie Sherfy
- 2016: No award
- 2015: Nick Ahmed
- 2014: David Peralta
- 2013: A.J, Pollock
- 2012: Wade Miley
- 2011: Josh Collmenter
- 2010: Daniel Hudson
- 2009: Gerardo Parra
- 2008: Max Scherzer
- 2007: Chris Young
- 2006: Stephen Drew
Category: General Sports
