Without Brault, long lefty lineage will break

LAKELAND, Fla. -- One can trace the Pirates' lefty lineage all the way back to 1958. It's not a spectacular lineage, but it's a streak of six decades with at least one lefty either being part of the opening day rotation or making five-plus starts somewhere along the way.

Yes, I looked this up.

Yes, I was this bored after the Pirates' 11-1 annihilation of the Tigers on Thursday afternoon at Joker Marchant Stadium.



Working backward, those lefties included Francisco Liriano, Wandy Rodriguez, Paul Maholm, Zach Duke, Tom Gorzelanny, Oliver Perez, Jimmy Anderson, Denny Neagle, John Smiley, Zane Smith, Chris Peters, Bob Kipper, Larry McWilliams, John Candelaria, Ken Brett, Jim Rooker, Jerry Reuss, Luke Walker, Bob Veale and Mr. Perfect himself, Harvey Haddix.

In that summer of '58, the all-righty rotation was Bob Friend, Vernon Law, Ron Kline and Curt Raydon. Another righty, Red Witt, made 10 starts. The only lefties on the entire staff, Don Gross and Bob Smith, made seven combined starts but mostly pitched out of the pen.

OK, you're welcome.

Because that will be the answer to the trivia question should it happen again this season. Which it very well might.

Steven Brault made his second spring start Thursday, allowing Detroit's main lineup a Justin Upton home run and two other hits over two innings. His first start brought a scoreless inning.

Brault's a lefty, of course, and he's the only one in this camp with a realistic chance at the rotation. Though that's closer to optimism than realism. He's 24, he's started only seven games in the majors, all came in 2016, and he went 0-3 with a 4.86 ERA, an equally gaudy 1.882 WHIP and five home runs in 33 1/3 innings.

What's more, it's likely that the other candidates for the fifth-starter slot -- Tyler Glasnow, Drew Hutchison, Trevor Williams -- are either right with him or, in Glasnow's case, valued as much as anyone in the organization.

So, kid, about that ...