Even with spot in hand, Brault 'comfortable not being comfortable'

PORT CHARLOTTE -- Steven Brault pitched a clean inning, but the Pirates dropped their second straight Wednesday, losing to the Rays at Charlotte Sports Park, 3-1 in six innings.

There’s only so much to take away from a starters’ first spring outing, and Brault’s was no different, lasting only an inning. But then again, this was a different spring start than he’s ever had before. This time, he went into it with some job security.

Following the trades of Jameson Taillon and Joe Musgrove this offseason, plus the release of Trevor Williams and declining Chris Archer’s club option, Brault is now firmly in the middle of the Pirates’ rotation.

Every other camp, Brault has been anything but a surefire starter. Early in his career he had to compete for either a roster spot or a spot in the rotation. Going into summer camp last year, the plan was to “piggyback” him with Chad Kuhl, having the two each pitch three innings instead of making a full start. In his five-year career, he’s actually made more appearances as a reliever (55) than a starter (45) and has never spent a whole year making nothing but starts.

He is welcoming the change of pace, but it’s not impacting how he prepares.

“I guess that yes in that it's nice to have a little bit of like, 'Alright, I'm here. I know I'm here,’ but I think at the same time, I found a mentality that worked for me at the end of last year and so I don't want to change anything,” Brault said after his outing. “So being comfortable not being comfortable.”

That mentality was to become, as he put it, a “freakin’ throwing machine,” focusing more on just attacking hitters. 

“I want every pitch to be competitive around the zone because even when I don't get my pitches exactly where I'm trying to get them, most of the time they still work as long as they're in the zone,” Brault said. “That's what I'm going for."

Brault was a bit erratic Wednesday, missing on seven out of his nine fastballs, but he only had one walk on his ledger and finished his inning with four straight sliders, resulting in a strikeout. He thought they were close misses and felt good about his location for the first time out.

It was because he was attacking, rather than nibbling. He’s had control and walk problems in the past, attributing it to nibbling the zone. He believes that if he goes right after hitters, that problem will clear up.

"I used to nibble. I try not to do that anymore,” Brault said. “Nibbling is more passive for sure. You don't want to nibble. Nibbling is lame."

MORE FROM THE GAME

• Miguel Yajure made his spring debut as well, getting two ground balls and a strikeout in his four batters faced.

But that fourth batter was the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball, Wander Franco, and the 20-year-old wunderkind showed exactly why he has that title:

For the record, that was a fastball on the low, inside corner. That was far more Franco hitting a homer rather than Yajure serving one up. Franco is a special player.

Yajure came over from the Yankees in the Taillon trade -- and ironically was assigned Taillon’s old No. 50 -- and is in the mix for an opening day spot.

• To recap the rest of the Pirates' pitching on the afternoon, Carson Fulmer rebounded nicely after getting hit hard in his opener, pitching a clean third with a strikeout. Nick Mears walked a couple but got out of the jam. Shea Spitzbarth got a pair of strikeouts looking in the bottom of the sixth, which was played despite the Rays already clinching the win.

James Marvel pitched the fifth and made back-to-back mistakes, hitting Vidal Bruján in the foot and then allowing a monster two-run homer to Austin Meadows.

There’s always a Pirates connection when they play the Rays. In case you were wondering, the only former Pirate to pitch for the Rays was… Hunter Strictland.

• While he did not get a fielding opportunity, Oneil Cruz made his first appearance in the outfield, moving from shortstop to center field in the fifth inning.

Derek Shelton said before the game that Cruz actually did play a little bit of right field in winter ball, but they wanted to start him in center because it’s an angle he’s used to seeing the game from.

“It's just adding something else to his tool box and like we've talked about, versatility is important for our roster,” Shelton said. “So we're going to put him out there and see how it goes.”

• Cole Tucker was a late scratch at shortstop with a left hand contusion. Cruz made the start in his place.

• The Pirates only had two hits Wednesday -- a Brian Goodwin bouncer that beat the shift on the first pitch of the game and a Troy Stokes Jr. double in the sixth. Rodolfo Castro did put a charge into a ball that resulted in an E-8 and the lone run of the game, and Hunter Owen just pulled what would have been a potential game-tying home run with the Pirates down to their last out. He ultimately struck out, though.

• David Bednar met with the media before the game, and it’s no surprise that the Mars, Pa. native is excited to be pitching for his hometown team. 

“It hasn’t really hit me until I actually got down here and saw my uniform, saw my name on the jersey,” he said. “It’s been awesome so far. Just shagging BP yesterday, look around and saw all the Pirates jerseys it just kind of hit me. It was like, ‘Wow, this is real.’ “

Bednar is a three pitch reliever with a fastball, curve and splitter. He has already hit 98 mph on the gun in a game this spring. 

I was able to talk to Bednar in January. You can read that story here.

• Tyler Anderson will make his Pirates and spring debut Thursday against the Braves in Bradenton. Kyle Crick, Sam Howard, Bednar, Chasen Shreve, Clay Holmes and Blake Weiman are also scheduled to pitch. First pitch is at 1:05 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on AT&T SportsNet and KDKA-AM 1020.