As reported last night, the Pirates made good on one half of their expected call-ups prior to Monday game, announcing that they had selected the contract of right-handed reliever Yerry De Los Santos from Class AAA Indianapolis.
Perhaps more notable, however, was the corresponding move. Right-hander Bryse Wilson was optioned back to Indianapolis after a brutal start to the season.
Wilson’s outing Sunday, an eventual 18-4 loss at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals, appears to be the final nail in the coffin for his current stint with Pittsburgh. He lasted just 1⅔ innings and allowed seven earned runs before exiting the game. It marked the second time in his past three starts that Wilson had allowed six earned runs or more.
In total, prior to his exit Monday, Wilson allowed 24 earned runs in 28⅔ innings, covering eight outings. That’s good for a staggering 7.53 ERA.
“With Bryse, it’s coming down to the fact that he’s got to put the ball on the plate,” Shelton said. “And that was our message to him. He’s a guy that’s commanded the ball in his career and has thrown strikes, and it’s just not as consistent as it needs to be right now. So he will go down, and that will be the primary focus.”
Wilson did show flashes this season, pitching especially well in bullpen role, with a 2.08 ERA in three relief appearances.
The Pirates, however, want Wilson to be a starter, or at least someone who can eat a bulk of the innings in a game. That’s mostly the role he has filled throughout his career, both with the Atlanta Braves and the Pirates. Shelton said Wilson may not start all of his games in Indianapolis, but will fill the same role he did in Pittsburgh. Mostly, that means starting, or perhaps coming into games after an opener gets through the first couple innings.
Either way, the Pirates will hope for Wilson to fix whatever has prevented him from finding his former control before returning to the majors.
In the meantime, De Los Santos is up now, with Roansy Contreras, the Pirates’ No. 6-ranked prospect on MLB Pipeline, reportedly set to join the big-league club Tuesday.
De Los Santos has certainly earned the promotion. Over the past three seasons, he has had an ERA below 2.00, a WHIP below 1.000 and more than a strikeout per inning. This year, he has been stretched out a little bit more, throwing multiple innings of relief four separate times and twice in his last three appearances.
Shelton said Monday that De Los Santos will slide into a “hybrid” relief role, like so many other Pirates pitchers, with the capability to pitch a single inning or multiple, depending on the team’s need.
Any amount of length would obviously help the Pirates, but even more than that, if De Los Santos’ electric stuff — primarily his mid-90s sinker — can translate to the majors, it would give the Pirates another much-needed high-octane weapon to use out of the bullpen.
“The sinker is a really good pitch that we like,” Shelton said. “We’ve extended him over his last few outings to pitch multiple innings. It was at the point he deserved to be in the big leagues.”
Position players pitching
Twice already this season, the Pirates have had to ask a position player to take the mound in a blowout loss. First, it was rookie Diego Castillo in a 21-0 against the Chicago Cubs. Then, Sunday, infielder Josh VanMeter toed the slab. Both got rocked before eventually making it through an inning.
The Pirates are not alone in this department. In fact, they weren’t even alone Sunday. The Cardinals also used a position player, catcher Yadier Molina, to cover the ninth inning. He was also hit hard, allowing all of the Pirates’ four runs.
In total, it’s a trend that has blown up in recent seasons. 89 position players pitched in 2021, up from just nine occurrences in 2010, according to Baseball Reference. It somewhat represents a waving of the white flag, with managers collectively deciding that it isn’t worth it to burn an extra reliever in a blowout.
It also begs the question: Is there another way? If the teams have conceded the result in a game then why does it actually have to keep going?
“My thought [is], if you put in a runs rule — and I don't have the answer to this — how [mad] would fans be if you threw the flag and said, like, you're giving up?” Shelton said. “But then the other thing is we turn into a situation where two position players are pitching the game, and do people like that? So, I don't know. I don't have a strong opinion on it right now. I do have a strong opinion that I think we should teach some of our position players to pitch better.”
Obviously, there would be issues with calling a game early. As Shelton mentioned, fans pay for a full game and some would certainly feel slighted if the Pirates, for example, had bailed on Sunday’s game after seven innings. Certainly, PNC Park concessions wouldn’t appreciate a five-inning blowout over a nine-inning one.
On a pure baseball level, there could be some concerns with record-keeping, too. Earlier this season, Los Angeles Angels lefty Reid Detmers tossed a no-hitter, the first of his career, in a 12-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays used a position player, Brett Phillips, in the ninth inning. If there were a run rule or something of the sort and Detmers had been shorted a few innings, he doesn’t get the chance to make history like he did. Not to mention, players trying to reach certain contract incentives likely would surely scoff at the prospect of fewer at-bats.
For all of those reasons, and likely more, you probably shouldn’t hold your breath waiting for a mercy rule to be put in place. The more simple solution for the Pirates would be to not lose by so many runs. If it happens again, though, Shelton isn’t kidding that it would behoove the Pirates to have better-pitching position players to try to get out of an already-ugly game as painlessly as possible.
“Russell Martin was the master of it,” Shelton said. “Dave Roberts was able to have Russell pitch multiple innings. We did it last year in Triple A with Christian Bethancourt. So I don't know if it's maybe you teach your position players to pitch better or what.”
Mike Persak: mpersak@post-gazette.com and Twitter @MikeDPersak
First Published: May 23, 2022, 9:53 p.m.
