Pirates reliever faces former team
them. Washington’s bullpen, with the third-worst ERA in the majors (5.33) and eight blown saves in 19 chances, lost late leads Sunday in both games of a doubleheader. In the words of Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell, “There was less cannon fire at Gettysburg.”
“You’re always pushing for a trade, but ain’t nobody trading right now,” Baker told Boswell after splitting the doubleheader. “Sometimes you have no choice but to have patience. Nobody is going to drop you down a knockdown closer out of the sky until there’s some teams out of it.
“We have to look from within right now. Because people know when you’re in need. And when they know you’re in need, they have to rob you — of your [minor league] system.”
The evidence is 9½ months old. In July, the purchase price for closer Mark Melancon’s services was left-hander Felipe Rivero plus pitching prospect Taylor Hearn. The trade seems like more of a steal each day. Melancon now pitches for the San Francisco Giants, having signed for $62 million over four years, and Rivero has an 0.87 ERA for the Pirates (16-22).
In 20⅔ innings, Rivero has an 0.823 WHIP and 22 strikeouts to four walks. He has allowed only one of eight inherited runners to score, employing a dynamic changeup and a slider alongside his fastball. Rivero pitched twice in the Pirates’ seven-game road trip, entering in high-leverage moments with runners in scoring position, and extinguished the flames.
Saturday, Rivero immediately lit up “102 mph” on the Chase Field scoreboard, using fire to fight fire with one out and runners on the corners. He induced foul pop flies from the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Chris Owings and A.J. Pollock. In his second inning, Rivero pitched around Paul Goldschmidt’s solo shot and struck out Jake Lamb and Yasmany Tomas, preventing a rally.
At his locker in the home clubhouse the next morning, Goldschmidt admitted Rivero’s velocity — five of his 24 pitches Saturday were clocked at 100-plus mph — disrupts hitters’ timing. Rather than gear up for the heater, which can create a slower and longer swing, Goldschmidt said it was critical to simplify the swing, be short to the ball and let Rivero provide the power.
“If he makes a good pitcher’s pitch — pretty much if anyone does, but especially a guy with that stuff — it’s going to be really tough to get a hit,” Goldschmidt said. “You’re hoping he makes a mistake. The harder they throw, the more movement on the pitch, will give the pitcher more margin for error. A guy not throwing as hard is not going to get away with as many mistakes.
“[Rivero] definitely can get away with a few more. I got him once. He got plenty more of our guys.”
Owings initially said, “I don’t think you put him on a pedestal. Go up there and treat him like another pitcher,” then added, “You can’t really look offspeed off that guy since he throws 102.” Pollack, the other foul-fly victim, remarked, “He’s in the hundreds. It’s hard to time that up.”
In the past, manager Clint Hurdle said when pitchers throw over 95 mph there is an element of guessing on the hitter’s part. As one might imagine, cracking 100 mph demands a good guess.
“You can talk to the scientists,” Hurdle said. “Yeah, [the room for error is] smaller when you start cutting up seconds into half-seconds. Three digits is real.”
A common comparison for Rivero is New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman, another left-hander with triple-digits velocity. Hurdle pointed to Frank Tanana and Nolan Ryan, not relating them directly to Rivero, as others with game-changing velocity. He did ask to go on record, however, as saying he thinks “95 is the old 90. I’ve watched enough baseball. I still don’t get the gun. Maybe I’m just old and I won’t let go of the fact guys didn’t throw as hard when I played.”
Hurdle said Rivero is aware, if healthy, he will have a chance “to close at some particular point in time. He hasn’t been a guy trying to ring his own bell or manipulate or leverage some other opportunity. He’s offered up, ‘Use me where you feel best-suited for the club.’ ”
Rivero’s role, which started as the seventh-inning reliever, has morphed recently and included more peak-stress situations. The reason, Hurdle said, is familiarity. Hurdle and pitching coach Ray Searage know Rivero better now, and he knows they have his best interest in mind.
“If you don’t know a guy, you can push him too hard too quick,” Hurdle said. “That can form a different type of relationship. … We built trust first. Once you have that trust, you can have collaboration. If you don’t have collaboration, you have cooperation, but that’s not trust.”
Rivero was unavailable Saturday because of neck stiffness. Should he return to the Pirates bullpen Tuesday, the Nationals (24-13) will get a close look at what they’ve been missing.