It was already pretty apparent that the Pirates would need their bullpen to step up early this season.
Only two of their starting pitchers threw five innings in the spring and would need time to work their way up to a typical, starter’s workload.
It was even more apparent the bullpen would need to step up in the first inning of the Pirates’ opening day game against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.
Right-hander Chad Kuhl started and struggled from the jump. He walked one batter, gave up a double, walked another, then gave up a sacrifice fly to squirm his way out of the frame with limited damage. During his troubles, right-hander Duane Underwood Jr., began to warm up in the Pirates’ bullpen, never a good sign for how things are unfolding for the starter.
Kuhl only allowed that one run, but he also made it through just three innings before finally giving way to Underwood. Again, that is not typically a good sign. On Thursday, it worked, though.
Underwood struck out the side in order in the fourth, right-hander Clay Holmes got another 1-2-3 inning in the fifth, lefty Sam Howard struck out the side in his own right in the sixth, then righties David Bednar, Chris Stratton and Richard Rodriguez slammed the door the rest of the way.
In total, the bullpen finished Thursday’s game with six innings of work, 11 strikeouts and one hit, one walk and one run allowed.
“I think the bullpen’s gonna be significant, not just for us but for everybody,” manager Derek Shelton said after the game. “You saw what [Cubs manager David Ross] had to do with his bullpen; I think they pitched seven guys. Until starters get built up and when you have cold-weather environments and with the fact that we’re all coming off 60 games. I think you're gonna see bullpens become really important.”
Really, it shouldn’t necessarily be a surprise, given that the Pirates’ bullpen was generally good all spring.
Bednar, specifically, was dominant, allowing no runs and striking out 18 batters in 8.2 innings of work down in the Grapefruit League. Holmes was similarly dominant, albeit with fewer strikeouts.
Rodriguez, Howard and Stratton showed what they could do last season, too, serving as relative bright spots for a team that didn’t have many of them.
For Underwood, specifically, this outing may have meant something a bit more. He spent the entirety of his professional career with the Cubs, only leaving this offseason via a trade with the Pirates.
The hitters he was facing Thursday were former teammates he rose through the ranks of the Cubs’ organization with. He was drafted the same year as Cubs infielder David Bote, who he struck swinging to end the fourth inning.
“Shoot, just from facing those guys for years of live BPs, I got to watch a lot of those guys grow up in that organization, as I did,” Underwood said. “I got to face [Javier Baez]. I got to face Bote. … So I had a lot of time over the years to face those hitters and felt confident in my game, and I knew I could get those guys out.”
Underwood had also felt that bitter cold at Wrigley Field before, with the wind blowing hard like it was Thursday. Basically, he felt ready for the moment.
He featured his entire arsenal. He struck out Baez with a changeup, Jason Heyward with his sinker and Bote with the curveball. He mixed his newfound slider in there too.
All of that working at once is a confidence-booster. The same could be said for really any reliever that toed the slab for the Pirates on Thursday.
That could be important, especially in the beginning of the season as the Pirates’ starting rotation builds up its endurance. If the Pirates can outsource some of that workload to the bullpen and get results similar to what they did Thursday, it may be a recipe for some success.
“Whatever it takes to get wins, man,” Underwood said. “I don't really think there's gonna be specific roles, per say, early, but whatever [Shelton] calls on us for, that's what I plan on doing, and the bullpen, I expect those guys want to do the same thing.”
Mike Persak: mpersak@post-gazette.com and Twitter @MikeDPersak
First Published: April 2, 2021, 12:48 a.m.
