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Pirates pitcher Sam Howard pitches against the Braves Thursday, March 4, 2021, at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla.
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Sam Howard's confidence and workload are both really high

Matt Freed/Post-Gazette

Sam Howard's confidence and workload are both really high

Sam Howard’s evolution as a pitcher started in a strange place — with the Colorado Rockies, where the Mile High City’s thin air has traditionally been a bigger boon to hitters. But during his days in Denver, Howard had what would become a career-defining conversation with an established reliever named Scott Oberg.

Although he has not pitched since 2019 because of blood clots, Oberg was an effective and active reliever in Colorado, topping out at 67 appearances in 2017, the year before Howard made his MLB debut.

“I asked him, ‘Dude, how have you taken this step to get so good and consistent?’ ” Howard said. “He said, ‘You just have to get to where you want the ball every day. It’s something that has to come, and you really have to feel that way. ... That’s how I feel. I want the ball every day.”

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Howard has nearly gotten it, too, the result of some really impressive numbers that he’s produced for the Pirates this season.

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The bullpen’s lone lefty, Howard made 13 appearances through the Pirates’ first 24 games. Only four throughout MLB pitched in more. Not only that, Howard is 2-1 with a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings while opposing hitters are batting just .121 against him.

With improved command of his four-seam fastball and a slider manager Derek Shelton called his “wipeout pitch,” Howard has been one of the best parts of a bullpen that began Friday’s game against the Cardinals at PNC Park with a 1.53 ERA in 14 games since April 13, the lowest such mark in the National League during that stretch.

The craziest part about Howard’s role might be that he seemingly doesn’t have one. At least not a regular one.

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Left-handed hitters are hitting .111 against him, so that’s obviously a feather in Howard’s cap. He has also stranded all seven of his inherited runners this season, which is two shy of the major league lead among relievers who have not yet allowed an inherited run to score.

Howard has produced nine consecutive scoreless appearances totaling seven innings while striking out nine during that time, blossoming into one of Shelton’s most reliable — and frequently used — options.

“He wants the ball and will come in and tell me every day that he wants to pitch,” Shelton said. “I love that.”

Back in Colorado, Howard said he worried when the bullpen phone rang that it could be him, his confidence clearly lacking. The conversation with Oberg helped his transition from starter to reliever, the same for what pitching coach Oscar Marin and bullpen coach Justin Meccage have emphasized.

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Step one: accentuating Howard’s slider. Step two: better command of his fastball, both up in the zone and on both sides of the plate.

“When you command the fastball and you're able to execute the fastball to different quadrants in the zone, the ability to execute the slider enhances,” Shelton said. “It’s really a place where he's taken a step in the right direction this year.”

The ascent for Howard has been swift. If you remember, last year he did not break (summer) camp with the Pirates, instead starting out at their alternate training site in Altoona.

While pitching to younger players, the 28-year-old Cartersville, Ga., native poured over video of his mechanics and heeded the message delivered by Shelton and others to be more aggressive in the strike zone.

The work paid off, and Howard arrived in Pittsburgh with plenty of confidence, at one point stringing together 10 consecutive scoreless appearances. Though he did struggle some at the end of the season, he wound up becoming one of the Pirates’ more reliable relievers.

In two years with the Pirates, Howard is 4-4 with a 3.19 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 35 games. And this season, Howard has had some nasty swing-and-miss stuff, his slider looking even better because of how he’s thrown his fastball.

If you look at the leaders for whiff rate (minimum: 25 plate appearances), Howard (47.6%) trails only big-name arms such as Josh Hader (49.3%) and Aroldis Chapman (47.8%), all while carrying a pretty heavy workload.

“Learning how to use my stuff made me want the ball and gave me the confidence I never had,” Howard said. “But until I felt that, I had no clue what [Oberg] was talking about or how I was going to get to that point. Now, I can honestly say I know what he means, and I won’t forget it.”

Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.

First Published: April 30, 2021, 8:37 p.m.

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Pirates pitcher Sam Howard pitches against the Braves Thursday, March 4, 2021, at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla.  (Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)
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