LAKELAND, Fla. — Johan Oviedo had no issue locating the strike zone in his first start of spring training. Problem was, the Tigers took no offense to his frequent firing over the heart of the plate.
Oviedo gave up four runs on five hits in a pair of innings in the Pirates’ 8-7 loss to the Tigers on Wednesday afternoon at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. All of Detroit’s damage against Oviedo came in his first inning of work, in which he gave up a pair of doubles to Jonathan Schoop and Miguel Cabrera, the latter of which bounced off the top of the outfield wall.
Oviedo excelled at challenging Detroit, which was part of a pregame plan to get ahead in counts according to both him and catcher Tyler Heineman. But the Tigers were more than willing to pounce early in at-bats.
“The theme of camp for [Oviedo] is throw strikes,” Heineman said. “He did that. He threw strikes.They were a little elevated. They weren’t exactly where he needed them to be and he got hit.”
The 24-year-old right-hander whom the Pirates acquired from the Cardinals last August added a sinker to his repertoire this offseason, which he is now mixing in with his regular four-seam fastball. Wednesday marked the first time he got to use his sinker against an opponent in a live-game setting.
“I’m not going to say that just because I didn’t put zeros out there that it was bad,” Oviedo said of his sinker. “I felt great.”
Oviedo also worked his slider a good amount. But three of Detroit’s five hits came against that offspeed offering, including Schoop and Cabrera’s extra-base knocks.
“They were middle pitches and they [took] advantage,” Oviedo said. “They were swinging first pitch no matter what.”
Adjustments to his pitch location and his secondary pitches made Oviedo more effective in a 1-2-3 second inning that concluded in a weak pop-up.
The majority of the Pirates’ offense, meanwhile, came via the long ball. Oneil Cruz supplied two of Pittsburgh’s runs with an opposite field shot in the fifth that brought the Pirates within two at 5-3. The Bucs added another run in the top of the seventh, but Detroit tacked on two more in the bottom half of the inning.
AT THE PLATE
Cruz broke out for his first stellar game of the spring, going 2 for 3 with a home run that was far from the hardest hit ball of his career. Cruz knocked a Jose Cisnero sinker off the end of his bat 355 feet at 99.7 miles per hour for his first four-bagger of the spring.
The shortstop with lofty goals for his power output in the 2023 campaign showcased why he can be a dangerous hitter even on a mis-hit.
“He’s pretty special,” Heineman said of Cruz. “There’s really no words to describe what you see. He just does things that just don’t seem possible. You just get speechless.”
Travis Swaggerty also wowed with extra-base hit No. 1 of the spring, a game-tying, three-run shot in the eighth that evened the score at seven apiece. It was a welcome sign for the former first round pick who is looking to craft a spot in a crowded outfield.
ON THE MOUND
Duane Underwood Jr. rebounded from a tough first spring-training outing against Toronto in which he gave up three runs in an inning of work. The third-year Pirate struck out the side when facing a heart of the Tigers’ order composed of Schoop, Greene and Cabrera.
Underwood was efficient, too, needing just 11 pitches to retire the three Tigers in order. He deployed his full arsenal, getting Cabrera and Schoop to stare at a cutter and change-up, respectively.
Perhaps Underwood was at his best when he got Greene to swing right over the top of three straight curveballs, including the last that was two area codes away from the strike zone.
“Just watching him have that success and be efficient and have all the stuff working today, you celebrate those days,” fellow pitcher Chase De Jong said of Underwood. “So, I’m really happy for Woody.”
QUOTABLE
“Phenomenal. That was as good as I’ve seen him,” De Jong said of Underwood’s performance. “He came back down to the bullpen just to say bye to the guys and he just looked at me and goes, ‘Give me a hug, man.’ ”
UP NEXT
Thursday is a split-squad day for the Pirates. Mitch Keller will take the hill at LECOM Park for a home game against the Yankees while another group will head north to Dunedin to face the Blue Jays. Roansy Contreras gets the nod versus Toronto. Vince Velasquez will make his Pirates debut in Friday’s Orioles game.
Andrew Destin: adestin@post-gazette.com and Twitter @AndrewDestin1.
First Published: March 1, 2023, 8:49 p.m.
