BULLPEN JAM-MASTER
Jared Hughes has come a long way from his days as a starter with injury issues to become an escape artist armed with a deadly sinker
After the 2013 season, Jared Hughes knew something had to change. He had not started regularly since 2011, yet he continued to use the same fitness routine as when he was in the rotation. On top of that, shoulder inflammation forced the 29-year-old right-hander to the disabled list that season.
“I obviously wasn’t in shape to handle a full workload,” he said.
Pirates rehabilitation coordinator Jeremiah Randall created a fitness program for Hughes containing 15 to 20 exercises to be performed every third day. Rotator cuff, arm deceleration, everything. Then Hughes took the program to the Texas Metroplex Institute for Sports Medicine and Orthopedics in Arlington, Texas. The institute’s director, Dr. Keith Meister, is also the head team physician for the Texas Rangers. Hughes went to the institute’s rehab clinic, where he and director of physical therapy Regan Wong put the program to use.
“It’s not a ton of repetitions or weight, but it’s enough to keep me healthy as the season progresses,” Hughes said.
The following season, Hughes pitched in 63 games and had a 1.96 ERA. His sinker induced a 64.6 percent groundball rate, third highest in the majors among those who pitched 60 or more innings. This spring, despite having a minor league option while Stolmy Pimentel did not, Hughes received a spot in the bullpen. Before allowing two runs on three hits and a walk without recording an out Wednesday, Hughes had struck out 10 and walked one, allowing one earned run, in nine innings this season.
“I enjoy pitching when it means something,” Hughes said. “I know our fans enjoy having us in the bullpen go out there and attack hitters and get out of jams or whatever it is.”
Hughes showed the power of the sinker in the home opener. After Gerrit Cole loaded the bases with no outs, Hughes came in, threw one pitch and got a double play. One run scored, but Hughes ended the inning with a popout.
“Be it in stressful situations or we just need somebody to pick up an inning, I’m up for whatever, but I love getting out of those situations where there’s a jam,” he said.
Though Hughes relies heavily on his sinker — he throws it 78 percent of the time — he also has refined command of his slider. The pitch moves in the opposite direction of the sinker, down and away from a right-hander instead of down and in.
“It gets them off the sinker,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “When you can cross-cut hitters — what I mean by that is ‘X’ at the bottom of the zone, when the sinker’s going that way and then you get the slider going that way — it’s a tough combination to cover.”
Origin stories
The name on the right thumb of Jeff Locke’s glove reads “LOCKENESS,” a reference to the mythical creature in the Scottish lake. A handy nickname given Locke’s last name, sure, but the origin goes back further.
In eighth grade, Locke had to do a report on a state. The students picked states out of a hat at random and Locke, born and raised in Conway, N.H., happened to pick his home state. As a joke, Locke included in the report that the Loch Ness Monster lived in nearby Conway Lake.
“Sure enough, you get those people that know you and know you’re messing around, but still in eighth grade, they’re like, ‘Man, is he?’ ” Locke said.
Thus, the nickname, which stuck. Locke had Wilson, his glove provider, put the nickname on his gloves all throughout the minor leagues and it remained even after he reached the majors. As Locke improved, the glove received more notice; the Pirates received a call from Major League Baseball about the nickname last season.
The thing that makes Locke laugh most about the nickname’s origin? The kids who went along with it, saying they saw the monster in Conway Lake on the boat with their dad.
“And then no one would ever look it up,” he said. “You’re 13, 14 years old, no one’s going to be like, ‘Let me go Google this. What’s Google?’ ”
Worth the wait at the plate
Chris Stewart was a career .214 hitter with a .287 on-base percentage before he joined the Pirates. After his two-run single last weekend gave the Pirates some breathing room in a 5-2, sweep-clinching victory against the Milwaukee Brewers, Stewart explained the change that helped him hit .294 last season.
“Early on, I was happy to hit the fastball,” Stewart said. “I looked for it inside. It opens up so much more away and I was pulling off balls, not staying on much. You let the ball get deeper, you can see a lot more. You can track a lot better and you can hit a lot better pitches.”
Hurdle and hitting coach Jeff Branson presented Stewart with the concept of waiting on pitches, and letting them travel deeper before committing, last spring training. Power is not Stewart’s game, but his average and onbase percentage improved.
“It’s a mental adjustment,” Stewart said. “Just kind of where you’re looking for the ball, basically. It took a little while to get used to, but once that one pitch felt good where I was like, oh yeah, that worked right there, and went with that, it correlated really well.”