Brault overcomes long run of adversity
As a result, he has battled his way into rotation at long last
Steven Brault could write a novel about his own experiences in the 2019 season.
Brault, a left-hander, is the last man standing of the three pitchers who battled throughout spring training and into the regular season to be the Pirates fifth starter. Nick Kingham now is with the Toronto Blue Jays. Jordan Lyles eventually won the battle. But, after he struggled at midseason after a solid start he was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers near the trade deadline.
Meanwhile, Brault struggled in the bullpen and in the Pirates’ illfated attempt at using the opener.
For most of two months, it appeared Brault wouldn’t find his place with the Pirates. Then came a pivotal outing May 24 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Designated opener Michael Feliz allowed five earned runs and recorded only one out in the first inning. He was supposed to get through the tough part of the lineup at least once to make life easier on Brault. It didn’t happen.
Brault, however, came on to pitch 5⅔ innings, allowing two earned runs, three walks and three hits. He struck out one. Brault followed that performance with 5⅓ scoreless innings as a starter five days later against the Cincinnati Reds.
By July 5, Brault had a 2-0 record with a 2.04 ERA in seven starts. He clearly was finding his way.
“As a career starter, I never really figured out the idea of relieving,” Brault said. “And so when I made the transition, it was hard and I couldn’t really understand why at first. When I look back on it now that I’m starting again, it’s mainly because I didn’t know my routine in between throwing.
“So, for me, I like being able to know when I can run a lot, when I can lift hard, so I can get my body ready for every outing, stay strong throughout the season. As a reliever, I couldn’t, I had a hard time figuring out what would work for me.”
Joe Musgrove has known Brault since before they were high school teammates and has noticed a difference in recent weeks.
“I think he’s starting to take a lot of ownership of his routine. And I know it’s tough for him. He’s been bounced back and forth between starting and relieving, and that’s two completely different worlds,” Musgrove said.
“So it’s tough to be able to find yourself falling into one role or one routine when you’re going back and forth. But I think now that he’s gotten a chance to get a consistent stretch as a starter here, he’s started to understand his routine and what’s going to get him ready.”
To make matters more difficult, a strained left shoulder forced Brault to go on the injured list July 5. He was out for a little more than a month while recovering. The timing was terrible as it coincided with the epic slump that knocked the Pirates out of playoff contention.
“It was tough because I felt like I was finding a groove,” Brault said. “It was also hard because I couldn’t help the team while we kept losing. All I could do was keep working to get back.”
Among the ways Brault stayed engaged was traveling with the team and keeping his tradition alive of running stadium steps in every ballpark. Hours before the stadium opens to the public, Brault goes up and down the steps and into suites.
“Usually, I stay on the field level, but, when it’s my first time running stadiums in the ballpark, once I get a feel for the place then I’ll go up,” Brault said. “I’ll run up the concourse and run around the second level, run up and go to the third level. It’s just to check it all out, and it’s cool to see. Sometimes, I’m running through like areas where I’m probably not supposed to be running.
“Actually [at PNC Park] three weeks ago, I ended up running through like all the suites, and that’s all indoors. So there were people in there working and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m not supposed to be here. This is weird.’ But it’s cool. It’s fun. It’s cool to see new stadiums and kind of how they are different from other ones.”
Brault will run for about 20 minutes up and down the steps and through the concourses. After he finishes that, he’ll run in the outfield.
“It’s amazing how easy that feels after running up and down stairs for so long,” Brault said. “But yeah, I’ve always thought that helped my body feel good.”
Brault has learned a lot about ballpark construction on his runs.
“What I’ve found is that the older the ballpark is, for the most part, the better it is for running stadiums because they used to make them so that the field level was really long, really tall,” Brault said. “Fenway is really cool. Wrigley goes way back. Here’s not bad, pretty standard and somewhere in the middle. But a lot of the new stadiums have a lot of divisions for a fancy section here, fancy section here. So they divide it up a lot more, so it’s a little bit harder, but you just kind of end up having to jump over some rails and stuff. That’s fine.”
Clearing obstacles has been a constant theme for Brault this season. In his return to the rotation Aug. 6 against Milwaukee, he gave up two runs in 5⅓ inning of a 4-3 loss, but he struggled in his next outing Sunday against St. Louis. He will be back on the mound Saturday when he starts against the Chicago Cubs.
Musgrove has noticed how Brault has improved despite so much adversity.
“A lot of times, when you’re struggling and you’re searching for something, you find yourself trying to make an adjustment to every single part of your delivery,” Musgrove said. “And what I’ve seen him do is really to simplify it, trying to get a good rhythm and a good tempo to his delivery. And focus on a few minor keys as opposed to trying to worry about every phase of your delivery, and get the positions you’re getting your body into. That can kind of overload your mind a little bit.”
Brault has had chances to settle into a starting rotation before, but this time he exudes more confidence and might, at last, earn such a spot. “I really like starting. I always have. I like to be able to know what I’m throwing,” Brault said.