BRADENTON, Fla. — There will be much for Steven Brault to correct following his start Friday afternoon. He threw first-pitch strikes to only four of 17 batters, retired only one hitter in three pitches or less and faced six three-ball counts. That shoddy command resulted in four earned runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.
However, Brault's focus following the Pirates' 8-2 loss to the Phillies at LECOM Park will be far different than usual. The left-hander, along with Tyler Glasnow, will begin the season as a member of the Pirates' bullpen, Clint Hurdle confirmed to reporters. The assignment is designed to be somewhat of an apprenticeship, but the significance of such a role shouldn't be understated, as evidenced last season when the club didn't have a reliable long reliever for much of the year.
"Every man out there works in a chain to get the ball to [Felipe] Rivero when we’re ahead," Hurdle said. "When we’re not, they work to keep the other three guys, the leverage guys, out of the game. So they’re all connected. You need some length. ... There are going to be days where things happen and your starter isn’t going to give you the innings you’re looking for out of the gate and that’s an opportunity for that guy to pick it up. That’s why we’ve always had multiple guys be able to do it. We’re going to have two again this year."
The Pirates aren't alone in their decision to keep a pair of long relievers. After all, the average length of a start continues to decrease, as managers are leaning more and more on their bullpens. Hurdle did so last season, but it wasn't by choice.
The struggles of the Pirates' young starters last season taxed the Pirates' bullpen. As a result, they needed to turn to young relief pitchers at Triple-A Indianapolis. Both Dovydas Neverauskas and Edgar Santana were called up on four separate occasions. The club didn't require as much help when they had long-relief help at the start of the season, though.
Left-hander Wade LeBlanc, who departed in free agency this offseason, had a 1.85 ERA and .206 batting average against 22 appearances from April 10 to June 6 last season, throwing two or more innings on eight different occasions. He had a 6.42 ERA in his final 27 appearances the rest of the year.
The Pirates are in need of a more consistent option this year. Both Rivero and setup man George Kontos will only pitch one inning at a time, with the rare four-out save the only exception. Additionally, both left-handed relief pitchers in competition for a spot — Josh Smoker and Kevin Siegrist — will be limited to one inning.
That leaves Michael Feliz, who is expected to man the seventh inning, and Kyle Crick as the only other relief pitchers with an ability to throw multiple innings, unless Neverauskas or Santana find a way to make the roster. Long-relief options can be available via free agency. Both Hurdle and Neal Huntington have told reporters they don't think Brault or Glasnow have anything left to prove in Triple-A.
Neither has proven much in the major leagues, either, as Brault showed against the Phillies. He allowed a two-run double to Jorge Alfaro in the second inning and a two-run homer to Maikel Franco. Brault, the Pirates' Minor League Pitcher of the Year last season, had allowed only two earned runs in 11 1/3 innings this spring, but he struggled with command again, failing to locating any of his pitches.
"I felt a little out of sync," Brault said. "It’s one of those things that’s going to happen. It hadn’t happened yet this spring, so I was hoping it would never happen to me ever again. It turns out it did. But overall, couldn’t get ahead of people, couldn’t get any quick outs for the most part. That’s bad recipe for even facing a decent lineup and the Phillies have a good lineup, so it just wasn’t my day."
Brault led the International League with a 1.94 ERA in 21 games last season, 20 of which were starts. He recorded a 5.79 ERA in his first 18 2/3 innings upon being recalled in July, but a breakthrough came Sept. 11 at Milwaukee, when he threw six scoreless innings, allowing one hit with six strikeouts and a walk.
He accomplished that by attacking the strike zone and commanding his breaking pitches. That work continued for the rest of the season, too. Brault had a 3.38 ERA with an opponent batting average of .217 over his final 16 innings.
But a full-time relief role will be new to Brault. There's a far different routine between once every five days and being called upon with little time to get ready.
"You have to know what gets you ready and what gets you prepared to pitch immediately," Brault said. "You might be going in in two hitters and there’s not even a call yet. That kind of stuff is what’s going to be a learning experience."
Glasnow, who is scheduled to pitch in relief against the Rays on Saturday, has struggled again this spring with a 8.03 ERA in 12 1/3 innings. Neither pitcher will have much time to adjust. Both have spent much of Grapefruit League play pitching as starters and opening day is now less than a week away.
Huntington has expressed confidence that both can succeed in such a role.
“Tyler continues to flash the signs of what everybody that sees him in Triple-A says he can do, ” Huntington said earlier this month. “He can dominate a lineup, and he can dominate for three outs, he can dominate for 18 outs in Triple-A. … We’re still excited about what he can be and the flashes we’ve seen this spring have been really (better than) at any point he’s had major-league opportunity. We just need to build on those.”
• Tyler Jones is struggling at an inopportune time. The right-handed relief pitcher allowed two runs on three hits in 2/3 innings against the Phillies, although both earned runs crossed the plate on a grand slam given up by minor-league callup Tate Scioneux. Jones, 28, started the spring with a 6 2/3-inning scoreless inning streak. However, he's given up two runs in each of his last two appearances, inflating his ERA to 4.15.
He was signed to a minor-league contract this offseason after spending all of last season with the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate, where he averaged 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings.
• Siegrist continued to make his bid for a roster spot, pitching a scoreless seventh inning. The 28-year-old is working on repeating his delivery after developing some bad habits during an injury-shortened 2017 season. He signed a minor-league contract with the club last month and has a 7.71 ERA this spring.
Hurdle used Siegrist against three right-handed batters, including Franco, who had two home runs and 6 RBIs. Siegrist, whose velocity is down, has a career ERA of .194 against right-handers. He threw three consecutive scoreless innings prior to his last outing, when he allowed four runs in 2/3 innings against the Red Sox.
• Elias Diaz continued to show impeccable defense behind home plate. The 27-year-old catcher picked off Jorge Alfaro at third base in the second inning and threw out Cesar Hernandez trying to steal second in the fourth. According to Statcast, Diaz's pop time — the time elapsed from the moment the pitch hits the catcher's mitt to the moment the intended fielder is projected to receive his throw at the center of the base — ranked fourth among all major-league catchers last season.
Additionally, Diaz's throwing arm was measured as the eighth-strongest.
"He’s still working," Hurdle said of Diaz. "He’s come a long way. He’s got ways to go. The trust is there, the trust is real. He’s going to be a C2 for us that can play to a C1 some day. The bat, he’s continuing to work on some things. He’s hit some balls this spring that get your attention. He makes throws that get your attention. Talk about a tough day to catch. As many pitches as we threw off the mound today, he’s still blocking pitches in the ninth inning for whoever comes in, so he’s selling out to the pitchers, he’s selling out to the game plan. … He’s got a lot of good things going on."
• Bryce Brentz, who was batting .216 entering the day, went 2 for 3 and doubled off the base of the center field wall in the seventh, scoring Josh Bell to cut the deficit to six runs. Brentz, 28, is out of minor-league options and in competition for a roster spot.
"As far as I can tell, I feel good," Brentz said. "My shoulder is feeling good. I just have to get synced up and get some at-bats at the plate to get things going. It’s not the first time I’ve had a bad spring."
• Starling Marte went 1 for 4 with an RBI single in the seventh inning and has now reached base safely in 13 of 14 games this spring with 17 hits in his last 42 at-bats. Additionally, Corey Dickerson went 2 for 5 batting leadoff and has 12 hits in his last 33 at-bats. Hurdle said that Dickerson, who batted leadoff for the Rays in 57 games last season, is a candidate to fill that role for the Pirates this season, although Hurdle indicated Dickerson is more likely to hit behind Bell.
• Hurdle's lineup for the loss:
1. Corey Dickerson, LF
2. Starling Marte, CF
3. Gregory Polanco, RF
4. Josh Bell, 1B
5. Jose Osuna, 3B
6. Elias Diaz, C
7. Bryce Brentz, DH
8. Kevin Kramer, 2B
9. Kevin Newman, SS
• The Pirates host the Rays on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. Ivan Nova will make his final start of spring training. Glasnow and Neverauskas are also scheduled to pitch.