Bielak adjusts after mixed season
Righthander started strong in 2020 before struggling to 3-3 finish
Time and again, young pitchers come up to the big leagues and find immediate success. The scouting reports are minimal, so batters don’t know exactly what to expect facing someone they’ve hardly seen pitch.
But as the season goes on, batters tend to figure that pitcher out, and the success shifts to the other side.
Take the 2020 campaign of Astros pitcher Brandon Bielak, for example
Bielak debuted July 27 and contributed right away. He earned three wins in his first five appearances while sporting a 1.69 ERA and striking out 15 in 21 1⁄3 innings. With the rash of pitching injuries the Astros endured and their need for depth in the shortened season, stretching that success over the rest of the year would have given the staff necessary relief.
Then on Aug. 22 at San Diego, Bielak got his first taste of trouble in the majors. The Padres lit him up for seven runs on five hits (including four home runs), and Bielak couldn’t escape the second inning in his first big league loss.
Bielak struggled for the rest of the season. With more knowledge of what he does on the mound, the rest of the league figured him out, and Bielak finished with a 3-3 record and a 6.75 ERA. Batters hit .305 against him.
“The teams were able to make adjustments to me based on scouting reports and all that, and I wasn’t able to make my adjustments that I needed to,” Bielak said Friday in West Palm Beach, Fla. “I think it showed, obviously, with the numbers.”
The question then becomes how to adjust when the opponent adjusts to you.
“The league kind of caught up to (him),” manager Dusty Baker said. “That happens sometimes. And then you get hit a couple times, you get a little gun-shy of coming into the (strike) zone. It happens. This league is about adjusting and readjusting, so now it’s up to him to adjust.”
Bielak was one of 10 Astros pitchers who made their major league debuts in the shortened 60game season. It was a transition period for Houston as a whole, with its pitching depth continually put to the test. Familiar faces such as Justin Verlander, Roberto Osuna and Joe Smith were missing throughout the year, forcing “cross-your-fingers” moments with many young pitchers on the staff.
It’s no surprise Bielak eventually struggled. During the offseason, he worked to make those adjustments he failed to make last year.
He said his mechanics were a priority, including working on getting his top half to his glove side during his delivery. Bielak also focused on bettering his slider and knowing when to use it.
“I probably got away from myself a little bit as I am as a pitcher, just using my repertoire as I know I can,” he said. “So I kind of fell into some traps last year of kind of getting fastball-heavy in certain counts.”
A key part of Bielak’s learning from his struggles has been the support from the staff and the rest of his team. He’s worked with his catchers and coaches, picking their brains for tips from their perspectives.
Pitching coach Brent Strom even emailed Bielak in the offseason, saying the way Bielak handled his second-half issues didn’t go unnoticed. And getting a little more advice from the man in charge can go a long way, too.
“Personally, I think he needs to throw inside more because he sort of lives on that side of the plate — on the glove side of the plate,” Baker said. “When that happens and the league gets to know that, you have to be perfect in your execution, or they’re swinging at pitches they wouldn’t ordinarily swing at. They’ve always said it’s a lot easier to get here than it is to stay here, which is an understatement. It’s about adjusting and readjusting and remaining positive when things get tough on you.”
Those improvements should be on full display at 12:05 p.m. Sunday when Bielak starts the Astros’ Grapefruit League opener against the Marlins.
At just 24 years old, Bielak still has a ways to go in the big leagues, and more struggles will likely come. But a strong Grapefruit League start might give him a good shot at providing valuable rotation depth in 2021.
“I had a good first half of the year last year, then I had my struggles, obviously,” Bielak said. “I was able to understand what I did wrong and what I needed to improve on over the offseason, so I’m looking forward to coming out here on Sunday and showing the improvements that I made.”