Andrew Saalfrank and Kyle Nelson Speak Before Game Three

Ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks' critical Game Three against the Philadelphia Phillies, the media had a chance to speak with two of the D-backs' top relievers, one of whom is an emerging late-inning pitcher. Andrew Saalfrank and Kyle Nelson are both pitching well in the postseason out of the D-backs bullpen. Saalfrank has quickly become one of the team's best relievers in the late innings after debuting in the MLB in August. Nelson has been with the team for a couple of seasons and has established himself as a reliable middle reliever that can match-up well against other left-handed batters. Nelson had a strong outing in Game One of the NLCS in which he got Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper out. Saalfrank has navigated numerous situations late in games against the Brewers and Dodgers and gotten the D-backs to the next inning with the lead intact.

They both have worked with Pitching Coach Brent Strom for a while, Nelson has for the last two seasons while Saalfrank has mostly worked with him for a couple of months. Still, the legendary pitching coach has had a large impact on both of them. Nelson said that his favorite story of how Strom has helped him was earlier in the season when "he was watching Kershaw throw, and he was doing super well with his slider down under the zone. And he had just came up to me after and told me to watch him, like, specifically where he is throwing his stuff and basically told me just to follow that plan the whole time."

Meanwhile, Saalfrank doesn't have any great stories, but that he thinks "Strommy is Strommy...Just seeing him day in and day out is a story in and of itself. Take that how you will. He's just a great guy and just how he goes about some things is just fun to be around."

Saalfrank went to Indiana University, the same as Kyle Schwarber. While the two have to meet up during the series or in the middle of the game, Saalfrank thinks "it's pretty cool that there's going to be a Hoosier in the World Series regardless". Another famous player involved with Indiana is Hall of Famer Scott Rolen who has developed a friendship with Saalfrank. Rolen called him on the day Saalfrank was drafted by the D-backs to congratulate him.

Saalfrank also spoke on the fact that there isn't a huge difference between minor league and MLB hitters other than the MLB guys are a lot better but "You don't want to psych yourself out too much. Hitting is hard, right? So just not trying to make it more than what it is and just execute pitches and kind of stick to your game plan and whatever happens happens."

Saalfrank was told by Torey that "hey dude, you're not here to throw in 10-1 ball games, which I think that's huge for the confidence level" which confirms that Manager Torey Lovullo thinks quite high on his young left-handed reliever.

Kyle Nelson spoke about the impact that the roof being closed at Chase Field for Game Three will have on the game versus it being open and if there's a difference at all that he's noticed. Nelson said "Not necessarily. I think when it's closed,just with the AC pumping and all the air inside kind of being trapped, I think sometimes it tends to feel a little bit more humid because the air outside is obviously so dry. Other than that, no, I don't really notice much of a difference."

Nelson also played football in high school. Asked if there was ever a time he thought football would be his main sport, he gave a very humorous response

"I think baseball was always one -- I kind of joked that I was always married to baseball, but then football was, like, my girlfriend for some time (laughing)."

The D-backs and Phillies play Thursday Afternoon in Game Three of the NLCS in which the D-backs will try to make the series go to 2-1 ahead of Game Four on Friday.