Bullpen faces numbers game
Too many pitchers for too few spots
CHICAGO — Good thing the Pirates were off Friday. There’s a decision looming, and it’s hardly an easy one, a move involving the composition of a competitive bullpen.
Before Thursday’s game, manager Derek Shelton said Kyle Crick was away from the team because of the birth of his first child, though the righthanded reliever had technically returned and was completing the intake process.
When Crick is cleared — which theoretically should happen soon — the Pirates will have to clear a spot on their active roster. But there’s no clear-cut choice here. So let’s examine their options.
The knee-jerk answer might be Clay Holmes, because he was on a minor league deal and had to be added to the 40man roster on Thursday. It also might be wrong.
While David Bednar has been a great story, Holmes has been every bit as effective — just with less flash. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound righty has allowed no runs in his past 11 appearances dating back to Grapefruit League play, totaling 10⅔ innings. If you’re not OK sending out Bednar — and you shouldn’t be, unless you want to incense most of Mars — then you should feel the same way about Holmes, who actually entered the season with a lower career ERA than Bednar (5.83 to 6.75). Both have made big strides. And they’ve earned the chance to pitch more.
Richard Rodriguez and Chris Stratton are your established back-end guys. Makes no sense to move either one. Ditto for Sam Howard, the lone lefty. Which takes us down to four: Michael Feliz, Luis Oviedo, Duane Underwood Jr. and Wil Crowe. Business-wise, Feliz and Underwood Jr. are out of options, meaning they’d have to clear waivers. Oviedo is a Rule 5 pick and must stay on the active roster or risk losing him.
Those constraints could conceivably squeeze out Crowe, although he’s also their only current long man. With Chad Kuhl not yet built up and the same for Trevor Cahill, who will start Tuesday, the
Pirates need length.
The Pirates should not cut bait on Underwood Jr., who has looked terrific. Underwood Jr. tossed four scoreless innings this spring, striking out five and walking none. He struck out the side Thursday, performing extremely well against his former team.
This offseason, Underwood Jr. started fooling around with a slider. An unintended consequence was a tighter curve that was really sharp on Thursday, its ability to generate swing-and-miss evident.
Feliz? Maybe.
The Pirates under former manager Clint Hurdle routinely used Feliz late in games with a lead. But on Thursday, Shelton had six others get outs with an off-day looming.
For Crowe and Oviedo — a combined 8⅓ innings of MLB experience, all via Crowe — it was an expected omission. With Feliz, less so.
There are a couple ways to look at Feliz and his role. On one hand, he’s a big-bodied, hard-thrower with a snappy slider and at least some modicum of success on his resume.
Feliz has also been hit hard, the result of too many spots missed with both his slider and four-seamer. In 2019, for example, Feliz allowed 44 hits in 56⅓ innings. A quarter of those were home runs. He also has a history of issues with his throwing elbow/shoulder.
In spring training, Feliz had a 5.68 ERA in seven appearances (6⅓ innings), allowing two homers among his six hits. He was really good at times, too, but consistency remains an issue.
Perhaps the Pirates could trade Feliz for a lower-level, high-upside prospect. Or maybe they take their chances with waivers.
We do know this: The new regime has done a solid job identifying talented pitchers such as Bednar, Underwood Jr., Crowe, Oviedo and even prospects like Roansy Contreras and Miguel Yajure.
Pittsburgh has also made emotionless, objective decisions with the previous group’s players. What does that mean for Crick’s return? Tough to say for sure. But there’s plenty to discuss.
Veterans day
Tyler Anderson hardly dazzled during spring training, but the Pirates must hope it was the case of a small sample size and a pitcher working on his stuff.
Pitching a team-high 18 innings, Anderson had a 5.00 ERA and coughed up a team-worst six home runs, bringing back memories of his 2018 with Colorado, when he tied for the National League lead in home runs allowed with 30.
(They weren’t Coors Field aided, either. Fourteen came on the road.)
Pittsburgh’s rotation is thin on experience right now, as Cahill (225) has more career starts on his resume than the rest of the group combined (178).
For the Pirates to stay competitive, they need Anderson to be one of the steadier arms of the group, with the hope that Cahill could eventually join him.
Outfield angst
The Pirates outfield is a bit of a mess right now.
Anthony Alford deserved to win the starting job in center, but he also struck out 14 times in 36 spring at-bats, plus three more times Thursday. Dustin Fowler struck out 10 times in Grapefruit League action and inexplicably failed to tag up on what should have been a sacrifice fly Thursday.
Meanwhile, Gregory Polanco has again looked lost. The Pirates right fielder is 2for-27 (.074) over his past nine games, striking out nine times. His two Thursday were ugly, too, with Polanco missing thirdstrike pitches by a lot. There’s no magical solution here, mind you. Pittsburgh could potentially give Brian Goodwin or Jared Oliva a chance, but there’s also no guarantee either would be better. The Pirates simply need these guys to do more than they have recently.