Perhaps the most notable trend for the Pirates this season has been the unorthodox way they’ve deployed their pitching staff.
Everyone knows the drill at this point. In most games this season, the Pirates’ starting pitcher goes three, four or five innings. Some time after that, a long reliever comes on, eats two or three more innings, and in an ideal world that sets them up to deploy leverage relievers David Bednar and Chris Stratton to close things out. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but it is notable because it’s abnormal.
And while the experiment has mostly been a success, especially with the long relievers like Wil Crowe and Dillon Peters, it’s mostly been made possible by the fact that the Pirates don’t have a true ace on their staff. It’s OK to limit starters to five innings or fewer because it would be difficult to imagine any of them regularly tossing six or seven frames anyway.
What happens if the Pirates do end up with a pitcher with greater ability? Right-hander Roansy Contreras, who filled in as one of those inning-eating bullpen arms earlier this month, is now back at Class AAA Indianapolis. At some point, though, the Pirates’ No. 6 prospect will ostensibly lengthen out again in the minors and get a shot as a true starter with Pittsburgh. In that case, will he be limited to four or five innings like the rest of the starters?
“If we’ve got a guy that ends up becoming a 1 or a 2, we’ll treat him like a 1 or a 2,” manager Derek Shelton said. “Those guys are hard to come by in the game anymore, but if we get into a situation where we have that guy, then yeah. But right now we have to make sure we put our guys in the best situations and matchups. Ultimately, sometimes we script it out and it works just like we want then something happens and it just doesn’t work. We have to make sure that we stick to our process, continue to look to our process then work off that for the best situations. If it worked every night, it would be a whole hell of a lot of fun.”
While that may be the Pirates’ plan, it’s fair to wonder how the team will know they have a true ace on their hands. If the team maintains that they can win more games by bringing in a fresh pitcher for the third time through an opponent’s order, then how can a starter prove that they can maintain their success a third time through the order?
Shelton’s answer, basically, is that they’ll know an ace when they see an ace. This weekend, the Pirates will face three cream-of-the-crop arms in San Diego Padres starters Yu Darvish, Sean Manaea and Joe Musgrove. Though Shelton wasn’t referencing any specific pitchers from around the league, his point is that their arsenal looks different, to the point that you can rest assured that they have what it takes to pitch into the seventh inning if necessary.
“Their stuff will prove it. The way we have the ability to track guys’ stuff now, their stuff will prove it to us. You’ll slowly see guys get it,” Shelton said. “... Guys with stuff — if you look at guys who are 1s or 2s, they stand out. Watch them on TV, and their stuff stands out. Hopefully we get to the point where we have some of those guys here because those guys are fun to watch pitch. They’re fun to manage. I mean, you’re going to give us eight? Here you go.”
Pirates’ Yinzer endorses Pickett
If the Steelers are in action, whether it be for the NFL draft or a regular season game, and the Pirates aren’t playing at the same time, you can bet Bednar is paying attention.
The Mars native says he left the Pirates’ 3-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, grabbed dinner and made it home in time to watch the Steelers select Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett with the 20th pick in the draft.
Bednar admits that he’s indifferent to Pitt’s football team as a whole, but he’s on board with tabbing Pickett as the quarterback of the future.
“I’m in on it,” Bednar laughed. “... Obviously you see all the hype and you see everything that comes with it. I think he’s a grinder, he’s a competitor, and obviously the Yinzers already love him, so it’s an easy pick.”
Bednar wasn’t the only source of Pickett support in the clubhouse. Center fielder Bryan Reynolds had a picture of Pickett in a No. 8 Steelers uniform taped to his locker. Unfortunately for those rooting for immediate synergy between the Pirates and Steelers, it appears it was somewhat of a prank, with a clubhouse attendant taping the picture to Reynolds’ locker.
Around the horn
After hitting the COVID list Tuesday, utility man Cole Tucker was back in the Pirates’ clubhouse Friday. He wasn’t activated before the game, but his presence likely means that he fell victim to the non-COVID-related viral illness going around the clubhouse, as opposed to catching COVID-19.
Andrew Knapp was out Thursday with the same thing, scratched late from the lineup to take the day off. He too returned to the Pirates on Friday, making his way in the starting lineup behind the plate. The Pirates weren’t sure if Knapp would be back, so they brought Class AAA Indianapolis catcher Michael Perez into Pittsburgh, just in case Knapp was still sick. As it turned out, they didn’t end up needing to break that glass for an emergency.
In further roster news, the Pirates announced that right-hander Max Kranick has recovered from his right forearm strain. He was reinstated from the injured list Friday and optioned to Indianapolis. Joining him will be outfielder Anthony Alford, who was designated for assignment Sunday but went unclaimed on the waiver wire.
Additionally, right-handed reliever Duane Underwood Jr., out all of April with a right hamstring strain, began a rehab assignment with Low-A Bradenton on Friday.
Mike Persak: mpersak@post-gazette.com and Twitter @MikeDPersak
First Published: April 29, 2022, 9:56 p.m.
