Bullpen must mature if team is to have consistent success
Like it or not, pitching in the late innings of a baseball game is a different animal for a reliever.
Pirates right-hander Wil Crowe admitted as much in New York last week, the day after he’d allowed five runs against five Yankees batters to blow a four-run lead in the bottom of the ninth.
“The time’s coming, the jitters or butterflies are intensified a little bit more,” Crowe said. “On the road, the crowd wants to get a little louder when you’re there, and I guess that makes it more intensified to an extent.”
The best late-inning relievers either roll with that feeling and allow the adrenaline to give each one of their pitches that extra bit of velocity or bite. Or they are able to ignore it all together, quiet their mind and pitch like it’s the third inning of a spring training game. In other words, the most successful late-inning relievers cope with the pressure, by whatever means necessary.
Crowe is still trying to figure that out. Many of the Pirates, at least over the last couple of weeks, are still trying to figure that out.
“We’re out there doing our job,” Crowe continued. “I try to block it out as much as I can. Just breathe, be where your feet are. You can’t really control those things. In a moment like that, just put your feet in the ground, realize where you’re at and go about your business. I do know that it probably brings out more [velocity] for some guys, but for me, I’m just trying to go out there and do what I’m doing and try to get guys out.”
A quick glance at stats that quantify these things tell you what Crowe is talking about is a lot easier said than done. According to Baseball-Reference, in 133 high-leverage plate appearances against Crowe, opponents are hitting .339 with a .912 OPS. In medium- and low-leverage spots, that opponent average drops below the Mendoza line.
It also isn’t necessarily fair to single out Crowe. Right-hander Chase De Jong has been arguably the Pirates’ most consistent reliever throughout this season, with a 2.61 ERA in 69 innings of work. Again, though, in 43 high-leverage plate appearances, opponents are hitting .324 with a 1.040 OPS against him. In medium- and low-leverage spots, those numbers again plummet.
This also shouldn’t be an enormous surprise, necessarily. Crowe and De Jong, two examples of a larger issue the Pirates must address, were starters before this season. They transitioned into the bullpen and did so fairly well. Righthander David Bednar was the classic late-inning guy for most of the season. Others like Yerry De Los Santos and Colin Holderman pitched in, as well.
These problems in the late innings cropped up more noticeably over the past couple of months when Bednar, De Los Santos and Holderman were all injured. Entering the season, the Pirates likely wouldn’t have expected Crowe, De Jong, Yohan Ramirez or Duane Underwood Jr. to pitch the eighth and ninth innings in hold and save situations.
Still, it’s unavoidable: As things currently stand, the Pirates have the highest bullpen ERA in baseball. No matter how many unfortunate injuries they’ve suffered, there is still a ton of work to be done to fortify that area of the team.
The easiest way to do that is to bring in proven entities. The Houston Astros have the best bullpen in baseball by ERA. Nearly all of their relievers were acquired either via trade or as free agents and already had at least some track record of success. Really, the only member of the Pirates acquired via similar means is Holderman, who came over from the New York Mets at the trade deadline.
Bednar is an All-Star, so you can reasonably expect positive returns there, and if Holderman and De Los Santos are the real deal, then the Pirates could have something going for them, especially considering De Jong and Crowe’s positive numbers in lower-leverage spots to round things out.
At some point, the players themselves have to stick, though. It should also be noted the Astros have used 22 pitchers this entire season. The Pirates have used 34. Some of that has to do with health. More of it has to do with aptitude.
Perhaps it’s something the Pirates will look to address in the offseason. Perhaps it’s something they’ll hope to continue to develop. In any case, they have seen firsthand building a bullpen is not as straightforward as it may seem. Players have to prove their ability to step into the toughest spots and then do it over and over again.
When they can’t, it turns into some of the more frustrating moments of the season.
“We talk about the game speeding up. We talk about young guys being able to handle it,” manager Derek Shelton said the day after Crowe’s meltdown in New York. “... I know the outcome of the game last night was frustrating. It’s probably the most frustrated I’ve been all year. ...
“There were a lot of positive things that happened. We just have to finish games.”
From the players’ perspective, all that can be done is more hard work to try to become the type of pitchers the Pirates need them to be.
“What sucks is losing the game for my guys,” Crowe said. “That’s what sucks. I’ve been kicking my [backside] trying to be great, trying to be better, trying to see what we’ve got to do here and there. The results over the last five, six weeks haven’t been as good as they’ve been before. I’ve been working my butt off trying to be the competitor I know I can be and the pitcher I can be, and not seeing it irks me, grinds my gears because I know I’m putting in the work, and I know I can help these guys and help the team win.”