Falter still has room for improvement
BRADENTON, Fla. — Bailey Falter was up to a lot this past offseason.
It was punctuated by a trip to Honolulu in November, where Falter and his then-fiance, Kylee, got married. But before a couple enjoyable weeks together in the Aloha State, Falter sought to change up his offseason regimen.
Instead of turning to his same routine as the past two winters, Falter journeyed from his Southern California home to Tempe, Ariz., to work with PUSH Performance, a development-based gym for hitters and pitchers. In conjunction with his agent, Falter wanted to build up some strength to avoid the late-season fatigue he’s been subject to in the big leagues upon pitching roughly 130 innings.
Once his motion was checked out by coaches, Falter learned he had room for improvement.
“I found out that my pelvis was in a very bad position,” Falter said. “They did a whole bunch of testing with me and found out that my pelvis was not in the right spot.
“So we had to do a whole bunch of training focused on my pelvis getting in the right position. And then it allows me to move my hips better and get into a better spot to deliver the baseball.”
The 6-foot-4, 175-pound left-hander’s motion has always been a bit of a funky one. Falter uses his long reach to release the ball closer to the plate than many other pitchers, allowing a four-seam fastball that averages around 91 mph to appear faster than it really is.
Now more focused on keeping his hips in alignment with home, the 26-yearold Falter said he’s throwing harder than ever before at this early a juncture in spring training. He is already fluctuating between 90 and 92 mph with his fastball, well ahead of what he would expect in late February. He topped out at 92.8 mph in his first appearance of the spring, per Statcast.
“Hopefully we just build more strength off of that,” Falter said. “Hopefully by the start of the season or a couple of months in, I’ll be 93-95, hopefully somewhere around there.”
It’s not bad timing on Falter’s front, considering the individual significance of this spring. While second base is the job most in flux among position players, there are plenty of openings in the Pirates’ starting rotation. Strong showings could go a long way toward helping Falter separate from a pack that includes Roansy Contreras, Luis Ortiz, Quinn Priester and others.
After coming over from the Phillies last August in exchange for Rodolfo Castro, Falter made seven starts and appeared in three other games with the Pirates. But unlike in the 2022 campaign, when he pitched to a 3.86 ERA and made a postseason start for Philadelphia, Falter labored to a combined 5.36 mark in 2023.
Despite last season’s struggles, Falter believes he has as good a chance as any to earn a regular turn in the Pirates’ rotation.
“As of right now, I feel like I’m one of those guys that are fighting for one of those five spots,” Falter said. “And, I mean, if not, I got no problem coming out of the bullpen as a long guy or whatever this team needs me to do. Doesn’t matter to me.”
Falter expressed a similar sentiment last season when preceded by an opener for a select few starts. But Falter is preparing in case he’s asked to take on a high volume of innings, hopeful to be the kind of durable pitcher that Mitch Keller and Johan Oviedo both were for the Pirates last season.
The next few weeks will factor heavily into whether Falter gets those kinds of chances at the start of the season. Falter is putting faith in his offseason adjustments to guide him in this process.
“As of right now, everything’s going really well,” he said. “I’m just trying to keep that going.”
It’s still early, but Falter’s first two appearances haven’t exactly gone swimmingly. He’s yielded eight hits, four runs and two homers across four innings. Falter has worked all five of his pitches and currently isn’t looking to add anything more to his repertoire.
Manager Derek Shelton said a key with Falter as he works to increase his fastball velocity is that the lefthander consistently lives at the bottom of the zone.
“He’s able to function, and then use the top effectively,” Shelton said. “That’s when he’s at his best. We have to make sure that the changeup is a pitch that stays away and he’s able to use effectively to righthanded hitters.”
“So overall, happy with how his body looks, happy with the way his ball is coming out of his body. Just continuing to take next steps to be able to get both sides out.”
Falter hopes to keep getting more comfortable with his tweaks, which came during what he called one of his longest offseasons yet. Although Falter’s tune could change depending on how the rest of his spring pans out, he’s confident the strides he took with PUSH Performance will only aid his case for a spot in the Pirates’ rotation.
“Liked it a lot,” Falter said while grinning. “I think that’s gonna be in my repertoire for the remainder of my career.”