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BRADENTON, Fla. -- There was a noticeable bounce to Kyle Crick’s step at the ballpark Tuesday.
The 28-year-old struck out a pair in his lone inning of work as the Pirates held the Twins to just three hits in a 1-0 victory at LECOM Park. Adam Frazier's second homer of the spring represented the only scoring in the contest. And Crick lowered his ERA to 1.35 in 6.2 innings this spring with Tuesday’s effort.
“Everything is kind of trending up, getting more of the lay back in my arm and starting to feel better and stronger out there,” Crick said.
After starting 3-0 on Mitch Garver, Crick came all the way back to get the strikeout on the slider, emphatically bouncing off the first-base side of the mound as the All-Star catcher chased the bending pitch outside the zone. He lost Jake Cave to a five-pitch walk, but came back to bend another slider past Miguel Sano for his second punchout. He completed his outing by trailing Brent Rooker’s dribbler all the way to the first base bag for the unassisted put out.
“I think any time a guy has success, it should genuinely build your confidence any way you look at it. I mean these are still big league hitters we’re facing,” Crick said. “It’s Spring Training, but if you’re getting people to swing and stuff and you’re getting them out the way you’re going to be getting them out in the season, then you’re practicing good habits. So that’s what I’m trying to do.”
The biggest difference for Crick has been his ability to regain his fastball velocity. Crick needed surgery to repair a tendon in his right index finger following a clubhouse fight with former teammate Felipe Vasquez in September of 2019. The procedure stunted his ability to “rip it” or bring the two fingers above the ball down fast enough to create his maximum velocity. Crick’s fastball hovered around 95 mph from 2017-2019. But the average velocity on his four-seamer was 90.9 mph in 2020.
“That’s a feel thing as a pitcher. Once you’ve done it enough, you can kind of feel the lack of, … When you have more in the tank and can rip down a little harder,” Crick explained, demonstrating the necessary finger movement with his right arm stretched out in front of his face. “That’s where the real velocity is coming from. ... And that’s what I felt a little bit weaker in over the last season.”
Crick explained that this weak feeling with “the rip” has dissipated. He didn’t throw anything as hard as 95 mph in his outing Tuesday. But he stayed around 92-94 with both his four-seamer and sinker.
Another successful outing for Crick allows the back end of the Pirates' bullpen to start to take shape. Derek Shelton cautioned against labeling bullpen roles for the upcoming season. But the plan to give the ball to the hot hand could never work without players proving they can get outs in different spots throughout a game.
“The fact that our guys continue to get better and execute pitches makes it a more viable conversation of how we use those leverage situations,” Shelton said.
Although Crick and Richard Rodriguez are the expected early mainstays in the back end of the bullpen, there are a contingent of newly-acquired, young pitchers that might show up in the major leagues at some point this season.
Crick made note that some of the offseason pickups, including three that pitched Tuesday, in David Bednar, Miguel Yajure and Roansy Contreras, have, “live arms.” Not long after Crick made that comment, Contreras made Twins outfielder Tzu-Wei Lin dance out of the way of a 99 mph heater that narrowly missed his feet and went right to the backstop.
“I think I said the first time he pitched it brought a smile but that was impressive,” Shelton said before breaking down what resulted in a walk to Lin. “I think the thing that was impressive was that he went breaking ball-breaking ball to start, then I’m guessing he tried to throw it as hard as he could for the next two.”
Contreras struck out the next three batters he faced to record his first save of the spring. Yajure worked a perfect fifth to lower his ERA to 4.50. And Bednar struck out the only batter he faced, Sano, to keep his ERA spotless. Bednar bent a 2-1 curveball into the zone to freeze Sano before putting a 92 mph fastball by him for the final out of the fourth. The Mars, Pa. native has allowed just two hits in 7.1 total innings this spring.
In addition to the heat produced by the new guy’s fastballs, Crick also spoke about the benefits of having a variety of arm slots providing different looks to hitters. Crick noted that Bednar hangs a little higher and more over the top than he does.
“I think in the bullpen, the weirder your stuff is, the better,” Crick said, demonstrating the different release points like an arm on a clock. “You don’t want them to necessarily throw from the same spot ... I think more different looks we can get out of the bullpen, the better we’re going to be in the long run.”
Although he didn’t pitch in Tuesday’s game, Luis Oviedo figures to be a factor in the Pirates’ bullpen this season. The Rule 5 pick surrendered a run on hits to the first two Orioles he faced Monday but came back to preserve the one-run lead and record the save.
“For me, one of my greatest characteristics is, I'm a huge competitor,” Oviedo said through team interpreter, Mike Gonzalez. “I love to compete. So if someone hits a home run off of me, or if someone gets a hit off of me, that's fine. I'll flush it right away and I'm going after the next hitter.”
Oviedo dealt with some back stiffness last season, but emerged as one of the best relievers in the Venezuelan Winter League, posting an 0.63 ERA with 10 punchouts in 14.1 innings. Much like Crick, the success came for Oviedo when his health and fastball velocity returned.
The appearance Monday was his first of the spring. Prior to the winter league, Oviedo last pitched for Class A Lake County. But if he were to remain with the Pirates, he will have to be roster as a Rule 5 pick. The 21-year-old feels confident in his ability to stick in the majors.
“To many people, it could look like a large leap,” Oviedo said. “I feel prepared. Not only do I feel mentally and physically prepared, but I've also, during winter ball, just the experience I've gained playing winter ball, being surrounded by a lot of major league ballplayers, good caliber major league ballplayers.
“Being able to see that I not only competed, but competed well, also brought more confidence and more [assurance] that I am not only physically, but also mentally, equipped to be able to take that leap.”
MORE FROM THIS GAME
• Although Bryan Reynolds has started to come back down to earth, the numbers being posted by the top of the Pirates’ order have been outrageous. Shelton finds himself with one of those good problems: figuring out how to arrange four excellent hitters atop the lineup.
“I think you definitely have to assess and look at what guys are doing and how they’re going about their at bats to make those decisions, and we haven’t gotten any closer to what we’re going to do with our lineup,” he said. “The one really positive thing about this is they continue to have really consistent at bats and good at bats and hit the ball hard, so doing that -- it makes it a little more challenging. But I like those kinds of challenges.”
Mr. 700, Kevin Newman got the day off, but Frazier hung around long enough Tuesday to improve his Grapefruit League average to .586 and OPS to 1.566. Frazier went 2-for-3 and his sixth-inning solo shot, his second of the spring, delivered the game's only run. Ke’Bryan Hayes had a single in three at bats and his average actually dropped to .432. Reynolds failed to reach base for the first time in 12 games. He went 0-for-3 with a strikeout, but put a ball to the warning track that we’ve seen leave the yard on windier days. He’s batting .265 this spring.
• Another strong push for the opening day rotation was made by Chase De Jong in his second start of the spring. The right-hander retired the first nine Twins in order before surrendering a base hit to Luis Arraez to lead off the fourth. De Jong bounced back to get the next two batters before giving way to Bednar. De Jong threw 46 pitches, 32 for strikes, and lowered his Grapefruit League ERA to 0.77. In 11.2 total innings this spring, he’s allowed just one run.
“To see the adjustments he’s made, not only before coming here but once getting here, it’s been really good,” Shelton said.
De Jong spoke at length about working in the top of the zone with the fastball in his previous outing last week against Tampa Bay. He successfully worked above the belt with the heater in the zone against Minnesota, and it resulted in seven outs through the air. De Jong also mixed his breaking pitches evenly, throwing 12 sliders and 11 curves.
• Shortstop Erik Gonzalez was lifted to start the fifth inning after recording a single in his line at-bat in the third. Gonzalez is batting .400 with a .988 OPS this spring. Wilmer Difo entered the game for Gonzalez and singled to improve to .276 and stole a base. He also showed some quick reflexes on an Arraez one-out liner to double off Andrew Romine at third.
• After the game, the club announced that right-hander James Marvel was reassigned to minor league camp, leaving the active total at 47 players. Marvel last appeared in a Grapefruit League game last Tuesday, and surrendered four earned runs in as many innings this spring.
• Another afternoon at LECOM Park is on tap for Wednesday as the Pirates play host to the Braves at 1:05 p.m. JT Brubaker is in line to make the start for Pittsburgh with Clay Holmes, Chasen Shreve, Nick Mears and Braeden Ogle scheduled to follow.