BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Pirates walked 14 batters Saturday in Bradenton in a 7-4 loss to the Yankees at LECOM Park.
Six of those walks came in the first 2.1 innings: Four from Chris Stratton in his 1-plus innings pitched, and two from Robbie Erlin over 1.1 frames.
"I feel like I've thrown some really good pitches and I've executed some things I want to," Stratton said. "Just not as consistent as I'd like to be."
While those two do not have guaranteed spots, both have a shot at making the opening day roster. Stratton is already on the 40-man roster and pitched well out of the bullpen for the Pirates last year. Erlin signed a minor-league contract this winter and came into camp with an inside track for a bullpen spot because he is left-handed.
Stratton, the starter Saturday, looked good early, getting two quick ground outs to open. He then walked the next three batters faced before getting out of the inning by fanning Chris Gittens on a full count.
Stratton was sent back out to start the second because Derek Shelton sees him as a multi-inning reliever, but he immediately issued his fourth walk of the afternoon and was pulled.
"I think he just battled with his command," Shelton said. "He struggled with his breaking ball command and didn't land it. I think that's the biggest thing."
Shelton said he thought Stratton was "underneath the ball a little bit."
After watching video of his outing, Stratton found his lower half was coming out early.
"I didn't like what I saw," Stratton said. "I have something to work on tomorrow."
Stratton has been working on his lower-half mechanics with Oscar Marin this spring. Last month, he told me how he worked on how he pushed off of the rubber last season, saying he was pushing off too early before. That change helped spark his mostly successful run in the Pirates' bullpen.
Erlin relieved Stratton and allowed two weakly-hit singles in the second. He was pulled in the third, after allowing a hit and walking the two aforementioned batters.
"Inconsistent," Erlin told me about his day. "The goal today was just to land a curveball when I wanted to. Any count, throw it at any time. And the first inning I went out there, I felt I was inconsistent. The second inning I felt better."
It was clear Erlin was working on his curveball, and while it was not always hitting the zone, it was consistently breaking. He said he gets a better feel for it and it improves with reps over spring.
"Although the line probably wasn't where he wanted, it was obvious that he was working on some things that we had asked him to do," Shelton said. "I thought that was a positive going forward."
• The Pirates' other eight walks were by James Marvel, who had three, and Ike Schalabach, who issued five. Both pitchers lasted two-thirds of an inning.
Marvel was charged with six runs and took the loss after the Yankees took the lead in the eighth. Schalabach walked five of his seven batters faced but didn't get charged with an earned run.
• While there were some really ugly outings Saturday, the Pirates also got some really good appearances from people in the mix for a bullpen spot. Michael Feliz came in a bases loaded jam with one out in the third and didn't let anyone cross the plate. Richard Rodriguez tossed a 1-2-3 inning, and Cody Ponce looked good.
Dovydas Neverauskas also pitched a clean frame on 11 pitches, striking out a batter.
"I thought Never was really good," Shelton said. "I thought that it was outstanding to see him go out there and do that."
• Neverauskas is actually having a decent spring, striking out a half dozen against only one walk over his five innings pitched.
He has always had the stuff to be a big-leaguer. He just hasn't been able to translate it to the majors. Despite three turbulent years with the Pirates, the new regime decided to give him one last look this spring, knowing he needs to make the team or be designated for assignment since he is out of options.
"I think the raw stuff, the ability to repeat his delivery, I think he showed that today," Shelton said. "I don't think we saw his arm angle change at all. I know that's something that has been a challenge for him in the past. So to see the consistency today with the fastball, the way the breaking ball came out, it was really good. It definitely stood out."
• John Ryan Murphy has three hits this spring. All of them have cleared the fence:
• In case you missed Taylor Hasse's article from PPG Paints Arena, there are reports that Major League Baseball is expected to close locker rooms to media in fears of spreading the coronavirus, and instead have teams bring players to separate press areas. This was news to the Pirates' media relations staff, who hadn't heard anything from MLB yet. MLB spokesman Mike Teevan said after the report came out that there are no changes to media availability. That, of course, could change.
Across the stadium, there are signs in the bathroom to remind wash your hands thoroughly. Which you should have been doing, anyway.
• Who threw today:
Chris Stratton: 1+ IP, 1 ER, 4 BB, 1 K
Robbie Erlin: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Michael Feliz: 0.2 IP, 1 K
Richard Rodriguez: 1 IP, 1 K
Dovydas Neverauskas: 1 IP, 1 K
Cody Ponce: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 K
John O'Reilly: 0.1 IP, 1 K
James Marvel: 0.2 IP, 6 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 1 K
Ike Schlabach: 0.2 IP, 5 BB
Nick Economos: 0.2 IP, 1 K
