Underwood ready to prove his worth
Former Cubs RHP wants chance to start games
BRADENTON, Fla. — Duane Underwood Jr. can’t wait to get his career with the Pirates started.
And also to potentially start for the team that acquired him in a trade Sunday with the Chicago Cubs, the Pirates adding the 26year-old right-hander to address its ongoing need for pitching depth.
Although Underwood Jr. said he’s willing to do whatever the Pirates need, he also hopes to impress enough that they give him a chance to do more than pitch out of the bullpen.
He seems to have his mind on starting. “I feel like I’ve really worked hard,” Underwood Jr. said on a Zoom call Friday before a game against the Blue Jays at LECOM Park. “I think I can start. I think there are a lot of innings in this arm, a lot of really good innings. I want to prove myself.”
It certainly will be interesting to see whether that can happen for Underwood Jr. in Pittsburgh, especially after the Pirates signed veteran Trevor Cahill to a free-agent contract on Thursday night, the club adding someone to the mix who has 225 career MLB starts on his resume.
Underwood Jr., meanwhile, has one — in his MLB debut June 25, 2018 against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Over the past two seasons, the Cubs have used Underwood Jr. out of the bullpen, with the Marietta, Ga., native pitching to a 5.20 ERA over 30 career appearances.
With a fastball that averaged 94.5 mph last season and a terrific changeup (52.1 Whiff% in 2020) to complement it, Underwood Jr. has the tools to succeed. But thus far in his major league career, a big issue for Underwood Jr. has been home runs. He’s allowed eight in 36⅓ innings, which translates to 2.2 per nine.
For context, the 2020 MLB leader among qualifying pitchers in that category was Detroit’s Matthew Boyd at 2.24.
To keep hitters off his heater and give them something else to think about, Underwood Jr. has resuscitated a slider that he toyed with earlier in his career. While pitching this winter in Puerto Rico for Criollos de Caguas, Underwood Jr. reunited with one of his pitching coaches from the Cubs system, David Rosario, and they began tinkering.
The process started with Underwood Jr. trying the grip while playing catch. He got movement on the pitch and said it felt natural coming out of his hand. While it’s not yet a finished product, Underwood Jr. said he’s hoping the slider can diversify his pitch mix enough to let him function as a starter.
“It’s developed really well,” Underwood Jr. said. “I’m excited to show it.”
The transition to Pittsburgh has been fairly easy, Underwood Jr. said. He actually worked out with Cole Tucker, Kevin Newman and Carson Fulmer in the offseason, which helped. During his time in Arizona, Underwood Jr. said he also threw in front of Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin — though he didn’t realize it at the time.
Marin and Underwood Jr. apparently had a good laugh about that after the Pirates acquired Underwood Jr. for young Dominican first baseman Shendrik Apostel. Marin called Underwood, the two joked about their offseason time together, and Marin was apparently thrilled to hear about what Underwood Jr. was trying to do with his pitch
mix.
Underwood Jr. said his first bullpen was scheduled for Saturday and he was eager to have Marin and others watch and offer feedback.
“I’m here to compete,” Underwood Jr. said. “I’m here to learn. Oscar’s a great baseball mind, and I know it’s a young group. But from the short conversations I’ve had with people, they’re hungry.”
So is Underwood Jr., who only ever really knew the Cubs as an employer. After all, they drafted him in the second round in 2012 and developed him as a starter. When Underwood Jr. got closer to the majors, he remembers having conversations with veterans like Craig Kimbrel and Jeremy Jeffress about their routines out of the bullpen.
Along with starting pitchers such as Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks, Underwood Jr. said he has a tremendous amount of respect for his former Cubs teammates and that he learned a ton in Chicago.
“Watching how they handled themselves
as professionals, it was a treat,” Underwood Jr. said. “I hope I’m able to take those things and bring them over here.”
It’s possible that Underwood Jr. could transform himself into a new pitcher with the Pirates. Or, perhaps more appropriately, he’ll rediscover what was already there.
But he certainly seems to be treating this like an extremely important opportunity, a very real chance to get MLB innings and perhaps secure a regular role.
“I’m looking at this like somewhere to start my major league career,” Underwood Jr. said.
“I’ve kind of figured out my game a little bit more. Not to say that I didn’t know myself before, but you need to know yourself and how to get big league hitters out.
“I definitely have a grasp of that. I just want to keep developing my game and become the best pitcher I absolutely possibly can.”