David Freese was talking before Friday night’s game about how being traded from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles last August changed his perspective on his career.
He had reconciled himself to playing out the string with the non-contending Pirates, then retiring. However, being dealt to the Dodgers and the subsequent trip to the World Series changed Freese’s mind to the point that he decided to play another a year when Los Angeles offered a contract a few days after losing to the Red Sox.
It was easy to understand why Freese’s attitude about baseball changed while watching Friday night’s game.
The Pirates are so desperate for starting pitching that they used an opener for the third time in six games and turned to the erratic Michael Feliz. The Dodgers, meanwhile, started one of the sport’s most-talented young pitchers in Walker Buehler.
Predictably, the National League West-leading Dodgers rolled to a 10-2 victory in the opener of a three-game series at PNC Park. Freese’s grand slam capped a five-run first inning and sent the Pirates (25-24) to their third loss in the last four games.
The Pirates are missing their top two starters as both Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams are on the injured list. They were also without Chris Archer for three weeks before he returned from the IL last week.
Those injuries, along with Class AAA Indianapolis right-hander JT Brubaker also being on the IL, has exposed the Pirates’ lack of starting depth.
Steven Brault and Nick Kingham entered the season as long relievers and considered the Nos. 6 and 7 starters. Each made a pair of starts earlier in the month and got hit hard. The fact the Pirates went with closers instead of Brault or Kingham three times in a week is a clear – if unspoken – indication confidence has been lost in both.
Trying Feliz as an opener was a leap of faith and blew up in the Pirates’ faces. Pitching for the third time in four days, he retired only one of the six batters he faced and even that was a loud out when NL batting leader Cody Bellinger hit a line drive right at Adam Frazier.
Feliz got into trouble immediately as Matt Beaty led off with a single and scored on Max Muncy’s double. Justin Turner followed with a single and, after Bellinger’s liner, Kyle Seager walked to load the bases. Freese unloaded them with a drive to right-center field.
Just like that, the Pirates were down 5-0 and Feliz was out of the game.
“Pitch execution. Behind in the counts. Pitches left out over the plate,” Hurdle said, rattling off a list of Feliz’s problems. “They’ve got a dynamic lineup over there, a helluva team with a lot of great depth. But you’ve still got to make pitches and tonight Michael didn’t do that.”
Feliz started for the first time in 157 major-league games. Not counting rehab appearances, it was also his first start since 2015 when he was pitching at the Class AA level in the Astros’ farm system.
The Pirates were so uncertain about what they were going to do for Friday night’s game that Feliz didn’t find out he was going to be the opener until he got to the ballpark about five hours before game time.
“I wasn’t nervous, I was excited to get my first major-league start,” Feliz said. “Before the game, I did the things I normally do, like go out and play catch. I just didn’t make good pitches and fell behind in the count. That’s what happened.”
Rookie Montana DuRapau was used as the opener both last Saturday against the Padres at San Diego and again Wednesday versus the Rockies at PNC Park. DuRapau pitched two scoreless inning the first time but gave up three runs in 2/3 of an inning Wednesday.
So, in three games, openers have been tagged for eight runs in three innings.
The Rays hatched the opener concept a little over a year ago and have had success with it. However, they have used such pitchers as Sergio Romo, who closed on three World Series-winning teams with the Giants.
“We don’t have that option here,” Hurdle said. “Using an opener wasn’t our plan coming into the season, but our pitching staff has taken three hits with the starting rotation. I may look to use somebody else in that position in the future, or if we do it again. We didn’t incorporate it in spring training because it wasn’t our thought in spring training because of the depth of the rotation and the people we had in play.
"Can some guys do it? Some other people have done it in other places. Our two guys here, I think it was something different for them. More opportunities. Maybe they get better. Unfortunately, up here everything's magnified when it doesn't work."
Richard Rodriguez is the pitcher the Pirates feel is best suited to opening. However, he was optioned to Indianapolis last weekend after being tagged for eight home runs, the most of any major-league reliever, in just 19 2/3 innings.
So where do the Pirates go from here? They will need another starter Monday for a day-night doubleheader against the Reds in Cincinnati.
Will they promote top prospect Mitch Keller from Indianapolis to make his major-league debut? Will they give Brault another chance as a starter after he followed Feliz and allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings? Will they set up a pitching machine on the mound and take their chances?
Kidding about the last option, but Hurdle sounded like a man out of answers following Friday’s game and looked like a man tired of searching for it.
“You’re ahead of me,” Hurdle said when asked about the Memorial Day doubleheader. “We haven’t even had those conversations yet.”
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE GOOD
Brault pitched effectively except for walking Freese and Kike Hernandez back-to-back with two outs in the third inning, then allowing them to score on Austin Barnes' double as the Dodgers stretched their lead to 7-1.
Control continues to be an issue for the left-hander, though. He threw just 57 of 98 pitches for strikes and had three walks while striking out only one.
However, Hurdle was pleased.
“I saw a guy whose pitch execution was much more collectively around the plate,” Hurdle said. “The ball-strike ratio, if you look at it but didn’t see the game you’d say, ‘Wow, there wasn’t much separation, a lot of misses.’ However, his pitches were all around the plate. He made much better pitches. He mixed his pitches a lot better. Overall, I thought progress was made.”
Brault said he hoped his outing would lead to him being moved into one of the two open spots in the rotation:
THE BAD
It would be difficult to be worse than Feliz.
Yes, Gregory Polanco went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. However, that did not come close to matching Feliz's ineptitude.
THE OTHER SIDE
Freese had a happy homecoming with his grand slam.
The Pirates signed him as a free agent during spring training in 2016 and he spent nearly three years in Pittsburgh. He fondly reminisced prior to the game about he and his wife enjoying their time living in Squirrel Hill and Mars.
As a small tribute to Freese, Tool's "Stinkfish" played over the sound system when he stepped to the plate in the first inning. He promptly belted his first slam since 2013.
"They played my walk-up song, maybe that's why I'm pumped," Freese told reporters. "It fired me up."
THE DATA
• Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger had only one hit in five at-bats but it was a two-run home run off Geoff Hartlieb in the seventh that made it 9-2. Meanwhile, Josh Bell was 1-for-4 with a double. Bellinger's batting average fell to .389 but still is the best in the major leagues. Bell's .337 mark is second in the NL.
• Feliz's career ERA with the Pirates is 6.34 in 59 games over two seasons.
• The Pirates are 6-11 in series openers this season and have been outscored 98-27 in the series-opening losses.
• The Pirates have lost 15 of their last 17 games against the Dodgers, dating to 2017.
• It was the Pirates' sixth loss this season of eight or more runs.
THE INJURIES
• Chris Stratton, right-hander, left the game in the seventh inning with right-side discomfort.
• Francisco Cervelli, catcher, was held out of the starting lineup with an upper-chest bruise for a third consecutive game but Hurdle said he is not going to be placed on the injured list.
• Corey Dickerson, outfielder, is on the 10-day IL with a strained right shoulder. He began a rehab assignment with Class AAA Indianapolis on Friday night and went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts as the designated hitter.
• Keone Kela, right-hander, is on the 10-day IL with right shoulder inflammation. He will begin a rehab assignment with Class AAA Indianapolis on Saturday.
• Trevor Williams, right-hander, is on the 10-day IL with a right side strain.
• Jameson Taillon, right-hander, is on the 60-day IL with a strained right forearm flexor tendon.
• Jung Ho Kang, third baseman, is on the 10-day IL with a strained left side.
• Lonnie Chisenhall, outfielder, is on the 10-day IL with a broken right hand but now has recurring calf tightness and, additionally, is away from the team on a personal leave.
• Erik Gonzalez, shortstop, is on the 60-day IL with a fractured right clavicle. He's still not doing baseball activities.
• Nick Burdi, relief pitcher, is on the 60-day IL with right elbow/biceps pain caused by a nerve problem.
THE SCHEDULE
The middle game of the the three-game series is set for 7:15 p.m. Saturday with Joe Musgrove (3-4, 3.67) facing left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu (6-1, 1.52). Ryu leads the NL in ERA. I will be covering the game.
THE COVERAGE
All our expanded baseball coverage, including Indy Watch by Matt Welch, Altoona Watch by Jarrod Prugar, and Mound Visit by Jason Rollison, can be found on our team page.