DETROIT — Having just completed throwing a bullpen session, Johan Oviedo sat in the visitors’ dugout at Comerica Park in Detroit, discussing the up-and-down nature of his season thus far, when the right-handed starter suddenly turned serious.
Normally one of the Pirates’ more affable players — and a 25-year-old from Havana, Cuba, whose maturity belies his age — Oviedo’s tone and perhaps his overall mentality turned on a dime. He started by describing himself as “a big, emotional guy,” emphasizing how much he loves to win and compete, before dropping the hammer.
“I just hate hitters, to be honest,” Oviedo said. “I hate ’em. I’m really good friends with them, but as soon as I step on the mound, I really hate hitters. I hate the bat flips. I hate the celebrations. I love when we’re doing it, but I just hate all that kind of stuff.
“I literally want to strike everyone out. Sometimes when you’re that aggressive, it can take you away from the focus of the game and focusing pitch-by-pitch.”
That mindset, perhaps more than anything else, explains the undulations we’ve seen from Oviedo thus far.
Fourteen strikeouts in his final two spring training starts, then three homers and five runs allowed in his first regular season outing, all in the opening frame. Three splendid starts followed, during which Oviedo worked 19 2/3 innings, allowed just two earned runs, walked four and struck out 21. Then he allowed 18 earned runs over his past four starts.
Peaks and valleys are natural marking points of every major league season, but with Oviedo, the changes have often been quick and drastic. At 6-foot-5, 245 pounds, with a fastball that averages 96.1 mph and plenty of smarts, Oviedo has been blessed with myriad gifts. But his problems have often come from overthinking things or trying too hard.
“You want it so much that you want to be perfect,” Oviedo said, reflecting more. “But in this game, I’ve found out that sometimes less is more.”
After allowing 17 earned runs in three starts against the Dodgers, Nationals and Blue Jays, Oviedo believes he turned a corner against the Orioles, when he permitted one earned run but walked five in five innings. The difference seemed to be how Oviedo battled and didn’t let the outing spiral out of control.
That mentality will carry Oviedo into Friday’s start against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Zac Gallen (6-1, 2.35 ERA), who has been one of MLB’s best starters through the first quarter of the season.
The Pirates’ margin for error will likely be slim, and Oviedo can’t wait for the challenge. He’s also promising a reinvented version of himself, although he insisted on keeping details of that to himself until Friday.
“I’m working hard to try and get ahead, control counts and get quick outs so I can stay deep in games,” Oviedo said. “I’ll bring some new things for the next game. It’ll be the first time that we start using those things, but I’m not going to give you a heads up. I’m excited for the next game and to see how it goes.”
Pressed for details, Oviedo didn’t budge, saying only “it’s something I’ve been working on for a while.” Without knowing exactly what’s in Oviedo’s head, there are a couple things the changes could encompass:
• For much of spring training, Oviedo dabbled with a sinker, yet he’s thrown only five of them during the regular season. It helped Mitch Keller. Perhaps an additional weapon could give those hated hitters a tougher time with Oviedo’s heater.
• Speaking of that pitch, it would make sense for Oviedo to do a better job of establishing it. He has thrown it a career-low 34.1% of the time, and opponents are batting .367 and slugging .531 against the pitch. It’s a chicken-or-the-egg thing, but for someone with his build — his massive extension can sometimes feel like he’s hand-delivering the ball to home plate — establishing the hard stuff isn’t really optional.
• Oviedo could also further solidify the relationship he has with his slider, which has been an interesting one.
Early on, it was one of the more dominant pitches in MLB. Oviedo has also been toying with its velocity, throwing a harder version that plays almost like a cutter; its average velocity has increased from 85.7 mph to 88.6 year-over-year.
“I think it’s commanding the slider,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said when asked for the key to unlocking more consistency with Oviedo. “And it’s not only commanding the slider, but making sure the action of the slider is what we want it to be. What I mean by that is it has to have the right shape. When it doesn’t have the right shape, we see almost two different pitches. We need to make sure it’s one pitch.”
The slider for Oviedo actually ties back to the trying-too-hard theme here. In a way, it’s baffling to Oviedo. He commanded the pitch incredibly well for two months. Over the past handful of starts, however, the feel has come and gone.
Oviedo has also gotten himself into trouble by insisting he’ll find it again, throwing it and throwing it while trying to chase better results and often only making the hole deeper.
“My slider had been nasty for two months,” Oviedo said. “When I didn’t have it, I was like, ‘Oh, [shoot].’ But sometimes if you don’t have it, you have to find another way, stop looking for something that’s not there.”
There are plenty of places Oviedo can look. His curveball plays. He probably doesn’t throw his changeup enough. The sinker could be an experiment. On and on.
But at the root of it, Oviedo seems to have a grasp on what makes him elite, the type of natural ability and maturity that could put him in a Keller category when it comes to dominating games for the Pirates.
“I love the challenge of baseball,” Oviedo said. “It’s hard. I feel like the whole team is kind of getting back on track, and I’m real excited to see where we go.
“I feel like my pitches right now are really good. I just have to go out there and compete instead of thinking too much.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: May 18, 2023, 2:11 p.m.