MILWAUKEE -- Losing depth reliever like Michael Feliz at the start of a road trip gives the Pirates a very limited pool from which to choose for a replacement. The club activated Sean Poppen from the taxi squad before Friday night’s game against the Brewers.
That decision was made based on Poppen’s ability to produce outs on the ground and go multiple innings.
“That's important for us,” Derek Shelton said. “And if we are going to lengthen out or use him for a longer period of time, being able to minimize pitches in innings is as important.”
Feliz was placed on the injured list Friday with a cracked nail on his right middle finger. That issue plagued him throughout his past two appearances during the series against the Padres. Feliz allowed just one hit over 2 ⅓ total innings with a pair of strikeouts in those outings.
“We just got to the point where we needed to give it some rest because he continued to re-aggravate it,” Shelton said.
Poppen joins a group of nine relievers on the Pirates’ active roster. While Feliz is reliant on a four-seamer and slider, Poppen’s arsenal more closely resembles that of Clay Holmes, as they both use the sinker nearly half the time.
Poppen rarely uses his changeup, but he has been able to induce ground ball contact on 48.8 percent of batted balls in his professional career, a mark which was impeded by his career-low 45.5 percent rate during his first major league season in 2018.
The Harvard product was claimed off waivers from the Twins soon after the regular season last year. He made eight Grapefruit League appearances and saw his ERA inflate to 7.59 after two ugly outings in which he allowed eight runs over 2 ⅔ innings combined. He pitched more than one inning in two spring outings.
Poppen has a waiver option remaining. Miguel Yajure and left-hander Chasen Shreve were the other two pitchers on the Pirates’ taxi squad.
MORE FROM PREGAME
• Although he’s not expected to be activated for the Brewers series, another baby step was made in Ke’Bryan Hayes’ return from a wrist injury. Hayes took batting practice against a live arm in the cage for the first time in his rehab Friday afternoon.
Shelton said the Pirates will continue to evaluate on a daily basis before deciding when to activate the third baseman. Hayes has been eligible to return since Wednesday, which was the first day he physically swung a bat since going down on April 4.
• Adam Frazier is hitting the ball to the opposite field more consistently -- 41.5 percent -- than at any other point in his career. Shelton noticed that the times when Frazier doesn’t get “too rotational” in his swing, good things happen.
“Even when he's been on balls at times, he's able to take that short, good, consistent swing and get hits down the left field line,” Shelton said. “That’s what has really stood out early on, the ability to maintain the shortness of his stroke.”
• JT Brubaker has gotten the best jump out of the gate among Pirates starters. He’s allowed just two runs over 9 ⅓ innings over his first two appearances this season.
“The biggest component of it is just trusting his stuff in the strike zone,” Shelton said. That's a challenge for all young pitchers; when they get to be really good pitchers, they do it every time out.”
He’ll make his third start of the season Friday night against right-hander Adrian Houser and the Brewers, who will be without Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich.
• There’s value in putting the ball in play, but that’s not always going to get it done. That’s been the story of Kevin Newman’s season at the plate so far. Newman has fewer strikeouts than all of the Pirates’ regulars, but he’s batting .174 with a .409 OPS. He’s in the 10th percentile in average exit velocity (84.6 mph) and fourth percentile in hard hit percentage (24.5). This isn’t anything new for the traditionally soft-hitting Newman, but his average launch angle is a career lowest -4.3 degrees.
“We have to make sure he uses the middle of the field,” Shelton said. “We’re working on not only getting consistent contact but consistent hard contact. Part of that is just making sure he's maintaining the ability to stay in his legs throughout his swing.”
In addition to the long list of shortstop or middle infield prospects that might eventually take Newman’s place, Erik Gonzalez has been a steady presence in the Pirates’ lineup since Hayes’ went down with the injury.
“I’ve been working really hard. What’s been giving me confidence is my preparation, my work ethic,” Gonzalez said through Pirates interpreter Mike Gonzalez. “I’ve been feeling good since spring training. I knew the results were going to come in. I need to continue to be consistent and hopefully many more will come.”
Gonzalez hit a grand slam in the series finale in Cincinnati and is 7-for-18 during a five-game hit streak. He hit his third double of the streak in Thursday afternoon’s loss to the Padres. The 29-year-old is batting .316 with runners on and .417 with runners in scoring position this season.
“He has definitely contributed,” Shelton said. “It's the consistency of just making contact in those (runners on-base) situations. ... You put the ball in play and things can happen.”
Gonzalez was included on the opening day roster as more of a backup infielder, but Shelton has expressed confidence in Gonzalez’s ability to hold down a spot in the outfield as well.
No matter where he plays in the field, the veteran role player is seeing the benefits of receiving at-bats on a consistent basis.
“From the beginning I’ve always believed that the more at-bats, the more opportunities, the more consistency that I get, the better that I’m going to feel,” Gonzalez said. “That’s what any athlete will tell you.”