The Pirates swapped left-handed long relievers Friday, promoting prospect Steven Brault from Class AAA Indianapolis and placing veteran Wade LeBlanc on the 10-day disabled list with a timely left quad strain one day after he was shelled by the St. Louis Cardinals for four runs.
Brault, 25, is expected to stick this time and see his first extended time in the majors this season. He led the International League with a 1.94 ERA and won its most recent pitcher of the week award after tossing 14 scoreless innings over two starts last week. Since an up-and-down April, Brault has posted a 1.55 ERA and .187 opponent batting average in 98⅔ innings.
In two relief appearances for the Pirates a month ago, Brault allowed two runs in four innings.
LeBlanc, 33, tossed 45 pitches Thursday and surrendered four runs, including a moonshot by Tommy Pham. He has a 4.99 ERA in 61⅓ innings this season. This is LeBlanc’s first DL trip since being acquired by the Pirates from the Seattle Mariners Sept. 13, 2016. He is making $750,000 this season and has a 2018 club option worth $1.25 million with a $50,000 buyout.
The Pirates are unlikely to exercise the option. With Brault — who is younger, cheaper and possesses a higher ceiling — banging on the door to the majors, LeBlanc is somewhat replaceable and redundant. Until LeBlanc returns and rosters expand in September, Brault can gain additional major league experience while contributing distance for a weary bullpen.
Bummed Benoit
Reliever Joaquin Benoit also was shelled Thursday, blowing a one-run lead in the seventh inning, but he did not come down with an injury overnight. He was back in the clubhouse Friday and willing to discuss his ugly outing — three hits, one hit batter, three runs.
So what went wrong?
“I mean, everything,” Benoit said. “I wasn’t hitting my spots. I hit a guy. The ball was hit all over the place. Everything was going wrong. … Basically, that’s what has been wrong this whole year for me. Missing my spots a lot, and I’m not missing away, I’m missing down the middle.”
After turning in a 4.07 ERA in 42 innings for the Philadelphia Phillies this season, Benoit has allowed nine runs, seven earned, in 5⅓ innings since the Pirates traded for him. The issue, he said, is his inconsistency when attempting to command his fastball. Misses have been costly.
“This is one of the few times Benoit has been hit all year, if you look at the batting averages against right-handers [.226] and left-handers [.242],” manager Clint Hurdle said Friday prior to a game against the Cardinals at PNC Park. “That’s one of the reasons for the acquisition. It hasn’t played out.”
This wasn’t the impression Benoit intended to make in Pittsburgh.
“It’s frustrating for anybody,” Benoit, 40, said. “It’s being here and trying to do your job. The worst part is it’s not just you or your teammates — everybody is seeing it. You can feel the vibe from the fans, too. It’s a tough situation. I’m the one who has to deal with it. …
“I feel like I can do my job, but I’m still human. I’m going to make mistakes. Doing it for so long, it’s tough when you succeed for so long and basically you're trying to do the job and help the team, but right now I'm not. It’s common sense. I’m not going to make excuses on what I can do right or what I'm doing wrong. It’s baseball.”
Cervelli status
Elias Diaz started Friday at catcher, a day after Francisco Cervelli was placed on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to Aug. 14, because of left wrist inflammation. Placing Cervelli on the DL allows him time to heal and removes some of the urgency of him returning to the lineup.
“We’ll find a time in which Francisco is able to re-engage in baseball activities and go from there,” Hurdle said. “We didn’t set up a timetable. We’re just going to wait until the injury calms itself down so we can start being proactive with it.”
Stephen J. Nesbitt: snesbitt@post-gazette.com and Twitter @stephenjnesbitt.
First Published: August 18, 2017, 9:51 p.m.