Andrew Saalfrank

Andrew Jacob Saalfrank

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 3", Weight 205 lb.
• School Indiana University
• High School Heritage High School (Monroeville)
• Debut September 5, 2023

• Born August 18, 1997 in Fort Wayne, IN USA

BR page

Biographical information

Reliever Andrew Saalfrank made his major league debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks at the beginning of September, 2023, starting a wild two-month ride for him. The Diamondbacks had drafted him in the 6th round of the 2019 amateur draft, out of Indiana University and he had had a relatively remarkable minor league career until the start of that season, interrupted by a one-year hiatus in 2020 when the minor leagues were shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2023, he began the year with the Amarillo Sod Poodles of the AA Texas League, and went 4-0, 2.70 in 21 games to earn a promotion to the AAA Reno Aces in late June. In the Pacific Coast League, he continued to do well, going 4-2, 2.35 in 23 games. Overall in the two leagues, he gave up just 45 hits in 64 innings, while striking out 93 opponents. This led to his promotion in time for the postseason race, and he did well in Arizona as well, not giving up an earned run in 10 1/3 innings. The D-Backs added him to their postseason roster, and the whole team caught fire, winning three consecutive series in which they were the underdogs to reach the 2023 World Series. Andrew did his part by maintaining his scoreless streak over the first two rounds, totaling three games and 1 1/3 innings, then appeared in five games in Arizona's win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS. He was used as an old-fashioned LOOGY, working around the three-batter rule, as he logged just 2 innings over the five appearances. His control deserted him, however, as he allowed just one hit but issued seven walks, leading to three runs (two of which were earned). In the World Series against the Texas Rangers, he was back to pitching effectively, giving up one hit and hitting a batter but not walking anyone in 2 1/3 innings of work in his 3 games. In spite of his lack of major league experience, manager Torey Lovullo used him repeatedly in high-leverage situations throughout the postseason.

In 2024, he began the season in the minors, back at Reno, then came back to Arizona for a couple of appearances in late April before returning to the PCL. He gave up 4 runs in 1 inning in the majors, but was 4-1, 2.63 with 3 saves in 18 appearances for Reno. On June 4th however, he was issued a one-year suspension by major league baseball when the results of concurrent investigations into gambling on major league games were issued. The headlines concerned major leaguer Tucupita Marcano, who was given a lifetime ban, while Andrew was one of four players suspended for actions while they were minor leaguers. In his case, he had placed 29 baseball bets, including 28 MLB-related bets and one parlay bet on college baseball games in 2021 and 2022.

Further Reading

• Mark Feinsand: "MLB announces sports betting suspensions for 5 players: Marcano on permanently ineligible list; 4 others receive 1-year suspensions", mlb.com, June 4, 2024. [1]
• Lukas Weese: "MLB bans Padres’ Tucupita Marcano permanently for betting on baseball", The Athletics, June 4, 2024. [2]

Related Sites

• Andrew Saalfrank on mlb.com
• Indiana University bio