Clint Hurdle wanted to get it over with, so he made the call to the bullpen. Kyle Crick, the right-handed reliever the Pirates acquired from the Giants in January, jogged to the mound with a three-run lead against his former team and two former National League MVPs due up.
One was Andrew McCutchen, the player whom the Pirates traded to acquire Crick and the subject of admiration for the 34,720 fans on this night at PNC Park. Crick allowed a leadoff single on a ground ball to center; however, he responded by showing how he's evolved as a pitcher since joining his new team.
Crick, stoic when the crowd cheered as McCutchen walked slowly from the visitor's on-deck circle to the right-handed batter's box, used his two-seam fastball — a pitch the 25-year-old never threw in the majors prior to this season — to get McCutchen to ground out. Then he retired Buster Posey and Brandon Belt to complete a scoreless fifth inning in the Pirates' 11-2 victory Friday night.
"It’s just the next man up," Clint Hurdle said. "Crick, needed to get him back in a game, and that part of the lineup is interesting. Figured why not, let’s just get it over with. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. I don’t even know if he’s even thinking about it. If it's the third game and it still hadn’t happened, I think somewhere along the line he’s going to be thinking about it. It matched up well. It’s an inning he can pitch. ... He made pitches."
Crick, acquired along with minor-league outfielder Bryan Reynolds and international slot money, has a 2.89 ERA and 1.39 WHIP with 13 strikeouts to four walks since being recalled from Triple-A on April 13. He, along with Richard Rodriguez, has been credited with helping stabilize middle relief for the Pirates. Only two of Crick's nine inherited runners have scored
However, he didn't make the Pirates' opening day roster after struggling in spring training. Crick had a 5.73 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and opponents batted .310 against him in 11 innings. His four-seam fastball was left high in the zone more often than not. He had no feel for his changeup, either.
Crick's most glaring issue was an inability to command his slider. Opponents batted only .158 against the pitch last season, when he was able to disrupt a hitter's timing by throwing it to both sides of the plate. The 81-mph pitch serves as an ideal complement to his four-seam fastball, which has averaged 94.9 mph since he joined the Pirates.
He turned to his newest pitch, though, against the former face of the Pirates' franchise. Crick has always thrown a two-seam fastball but never in a major-league game. He couldn't command the pitch well enough, so he'd rely mostly on his four-seamer and slider. Yet, Francisco Cervelli began calling the pitch regularly throughout spring training, and it's become useful for Crick against both right-handed and left-handed hitters, as he proved with his former teammates watching from the first-base dugout.
"Cervi had something to do with it for sure," Crick said. "He was calling it. I was throwing it in spring and if it works, it works. I give credit to Cervi. He’s been getting me to throw it. If he puts it down, I say, 'OK.’"
Upon being recalled by the Giants last June, Crick watched Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner throw in the Giants' bullpen and wondered why the left-hander would throw five cutters up in the zone to both sides of the plate. So, he asked Bumgarner if the sequence was part of his routine or a result of shoddy location.
Bumgarner's answer provided Crick with the type of insight he never received during his seven seasons in the minor leagues.
"They're the ones who taught me how to pitch," Crick said of his former teammates. "It's not something you just learn and you have. It's constantly evolving. They kind of taught me it’s not about one speed or one gear. It’s not throwing really, really hard. It’s about location and messing up someone’s timing."
Crick expressed excitement over the chemistry inside the Pirates' clubhouse, as well as the number of young pitchers on the roster. It was Giants veterans such as Bumgarner, though, who helped shape Crick from former top prospect to effective major-league reliever.
He recorded a 3.06 ERA and 1.20 WHIP with 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings in 32 1/3 innings for the Giants last season. Only 14 percent of his inherited runners scored and opponents batted only .191 against him with a .301 on-base percentage. The Pirates coveted Crick because of his potential as a high-leverage reliever, and his skill set fit their pitching philosophy.
Crick has high-end velocity with effective breaking pitches. Those weapons, now deployed using the Pirates' pitching philosophy of attacking hitters inside, has helped Crick become a reliable member of the team's bullpen.
"Getting people uncomfortable in the box," Crick said. "It wasn’t stressed in San Francisco as much as it is here. It’s cool because that method of pitching works. Getting people off the plate, establishing the fastball, moving feet. It works. You can see it work. All the starters here do that well, and they set it up for us. Coming in for the sixth, seventh and eighth inning now they’ve already established the inner half so that opens it up for us. If we’re going to get beat and we get beat away, oh well. We don’t want to be beat on the inner half late in games."