Hutchison undermines starting bid once more
along with Trevor Williams and Tyler Glasnow, for the final spot. The Pirates removed a fourth possibility, left-hander Steven Brault, from the running Tuesday by optioning him to Class AAA Indianapolis.
Whatever iteration the Pirates choose, their rotation will consist of five righthanders.
Hutchison, 26, was the sole return in the trade last summer that sent two prospects to Toronto so the Blue Jays would assume the rest of Liriano’s contract. Tuesday, Hutchison threw 38 pitches to 10 Red Sox batters in the first inning. Five of the seven hits he allowed were squared up, and that doesn’t include Marco Hernandez’s hard line drive that Starling Marte caught. Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. homered, and the Red Sox had a 6-0 lead by the end.
“Overall execution in the first, not great sequences or execution,” said Hutchison, who mentioned sequencing twice. “After that, I thought I kind of got the rhythm going with good execution.”
Hutchison pitched a scoreless, hitless second and third, but departed after allowing three runs in the fourth. He needed 92 pitches in his 3⅔ innings of work and allowed nine runs and 10 hits.
“I just think it’s inconsistent execution,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “A lot of strikes; a lot of strikes in the lap area.”
Through Hutchison’s first three Grapefruit League outings, he allowed two runs and six hits through nine innings with nine strikeouts. The wheels came off St. Patrick’s Day. In three games since then, he has allowed 21 runs and 27 hits in 11⅔ innings. Spring training stats don’t tell the whole story, but …
“It can be different when four men are competing. … You’ve got to judge on something,” Hurdle said. “Basically, execution, consistency of execution, is something you need to look at.”
Brault, 24, allowed six runs and 16 hits in 15⅔ innings this spring.
“We’ve got some guys ahead of him right now,” Huntington said.
Williams, 24, has a 2.63 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 13⅔ spring innings. Glasnow leads the Pirates with 23 strikeouts this spring, but he also has allowed 19 hits and nine earned runs in 14⅓ innings.
Huntington confirmed that Chad Kuhl has a rotation spot. Kuhl will start the third game of the season against the Red Sox.
The Pirates also optioned shortstop Gift Ngoepe to Indianapolis Tuesday. They reassigned right-handed pitcher Josh Lindblom and infielder Jason Rogers to their minor league camp. Lindblom will start in Indianapolis to build up his innings.
Lindblom, 29, was born in Lafayette, Ind. and went to Purdue. He and his family recently moved to Indianapolis; Lindblom told MLB.com in January that his daughter, Monroe, was born with a heart condition that required surgery and frequent trips to Indianapolis’ Riley Hospital for Children.
“It’s a pretty cool worstcase scenario where you go to [Class AAA] and hang out with your own kids and sleep in your own bed and live at home,” Lindblom said Tuesday.
“Obviously you want to be in Pittsburgh, you want to help the big club win, but there’s also work that needs to be done in [Class AAA]. There’s guys I can help there, there’s things I can do to get better. It’s really cool perspective to have.”