Questions remain, but rotation starts to take shape in final spring turn

BRADENTON, Fla. – Derek Shelton shut down the notion fairly quickly, saying he was not going to name an opening day starter.

He may have informally done so anyway Friday in the Pirates’ 6-6 tie to the Blue Jays at LECOM Park, starting with who started that game: José Quintana.

Coming into spring training, Quintana was the only player who had a cemented spot in the rotation, with the two sides agreeing he would get another opportunity to start as part of the negotiations. That by itself would make him a candidate for such an honor.

If it’s not Quintana, the only other pitcher who could be on full rest for Thursday in St. Louis is JT Brubaker, who will take the hill Saturday. Mitch Keller, the big story this spring on the pitching side, is set to go Sunday, meaning he won’t be available for that first game.

If it is Quintana, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s had the honor, doing so with the White Sox in 2017.

“It’s a goal for any pitcher,” Quintana said. “If you can be the ace or the first pitcher on the team, you’re gonna face the best every time pitcher on the other team. I think that’s pretty cool.”

Just as interesting Friday is who followed Quintana: Wil Crowe. If Quintana’s offers a possibility of who will pitch opening day, what happens with Crowe could offer what the rest of the opening day rotation looks like.

Crowe had been used as a starter all spring, and basically has throughout his entire career, the lone exception being one outing in the majors and Class AAA at the beginning of last season. He led the team in starts a year ago with 25, but after posting a 5.48 ERA last year, he and the team explored different ways to use his stuff to try to be more efficient, including changing the pitch mix.

A role change could be in the mix too, at least temporarily. Shelton says Crowe could be used in a variety of roles this season. A multi-inning reliever is one such possibility.

“It's going to be fluid is the way that they put it,” Crowe said. “I told them, whatever I'm doing, tell me. I don't want to hear about anything else. I want to attack, dominate, do what I can with whatever position I'm in. If it happens to switch to something else, tell me when it switches. We're on a good page.”

A few other spots look clear. Keller is a lock, and Brubaker is in a good spot. Prospects Miguel Yajure and Max Kranick got a taste of the majors last year. They’ll get another this season, but a back and forearm injury have prevented them from pitching in a game thus far. They’ll start in the minors. After that, decisions have to be made. And they still are being made, with Shelton saying it’s written in “very faint pencil” right now. 

“We're still talking through it,” Shelton said. “We met on it yesterday. We met on it again today. Still working through how we're going to use [everyone]... I can say it's probably not going to be very traditional-based.”

For Shelton and pitching coach Oscar Marin, that “not very traditional-based” could cover a lot of ground. Piggyback starters, where each pitcher goes about three innings? A six-man rotation? Limited pitch counts? Opener or bullpen games? Something along those lines will probably have to be necessary, as the Pirates play 16 consecutive days after opening day and the built-in off-day that follows.

So what could the other half of the rotation look like?

Bryse Wilson has shown a ramped up fastball and slider this spring. Dillon Peters started strong this spring but was hit hard in his last outing. He has also pitched out of the bullpen as the second starter most spring. Zach Thompson was the major-league player the Pirates got back in the Jacob Stallings trade. All three have been primarily starters, but do have experience coming out of the bullpen. With those three pitchers and Crowe, the Pirates have their test subjects for piggybacks or a sixth man in the rotation to just about anything.

“I'm willing to do both,” Thompson said on the subject. “As long as I stay in the routine of starting, it's nice to have that routine, but if I need to go in the bullpen at any time to help out, help the team get a win, I'm willing to do whatever."

That’s probably the mentality these pitchers are going to need, at least early on in the season as they navigate still stretching out after a short spring. Rosters are expanded to 28 players for April and starters are only going to be stretched out for about five innings for that first start. It should make for an interesting final turn through the rotation this spring.

• I should probably write about how both of those pitchers did today, huh?

For Quintana, he called it his "best outing so far," allowing two runs over four innings on four hits and a walk. He was able to move his fastball around the zone while his curves hung around the lower edge.

 "I thought I was able to throe whatever I want, and my delivery was consistent," he said.

Crowe also had arguably his best outing of the spring, tossing two scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts and just one hit allowed.

"I think that was a big talking point for me, just being aggressive, keeping my pace up, going after guy, not trying to be too fine, just letting my pitches work and let the results come from it," Crowe said. "It was good today. I was happy with it. I'll take from it and go to the next one."

• Austin Brice and Anthony Banda each allowed a pair of runs in the seventh and ninth, respectively, to put the Pirates down by three in the bottom of the ninth. 

Tsung-Che Cheng kept them out of the loss column though by going deep in the final half inning, bringing home three. The 20-year-old infielder was on cloud nine getting back into the dugout, with Shelton joking that the rookie-ball player and the bench celebrated like it was a regular season game-tying homer.

"Everybody in the dugout was very surprised to because he was only in rookie ball last year," Cheng said through interpreter Charles Chiang. "He was also surprised that he got that one out of the park."

I wrote about Cheng this offseason as part of my under-the-radar prospects series.

• Also going deep Friday were Roberto Pérez and Bligh Madris. For Madris, that's three home runs this spring, as he continues to make a good impression for a potential call-up to the majors in 2022.

• Sometimes they don’t hurt too bad. Greg Allen admitted that the 94 mph Yusei Kikuchi fastball he caught today stung more than usual.

And usual is the operative word for Allen, who was hit by his fifth pitch this spring Friday. That’s fairly normal for him, being just one of five players who were hit at least 24 times across Class AAA and the majors last year (19 in the minors, five in his major-league cameo with the Yankees).

Fortunately for him, none of those HBPs (including Friday's) have caused him to ever miss more than a couple days.

“If it does, I may have to re-think this strategy of mine,” Allen said with a grin. “For now, it’s about finding ways on base.”

Allen has been a popular guy in his new clubhouse and I haven’t seen him without a smile this entire spring, so I had to ask, who did he tick off to keep getting plunked. “Baseball gods, apparently,” he joked back.

• While on the subject of roster spots, Shelton "expects" utilityman Josh VanMeter to be part of the opening day team, which isn't too surprising considering the Pirates gave up a minor-leaguer for him Thursday and he is out of minor-league options.

"This is a guy who has hit throughout his entire minor-league career," Shelton said. "In the big-leagues, it's been sporadic at-bats. We know he can bounce around the field... [He's] a guy that is versatile and has swung the bat at the minor-league level."

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Schedule

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• Ke’Bryan Hayes, third baseman, sustained a minor right ankle sprain during practice over the weekend. He didn't play in this game, but there's no indication he'll miss the opener.

THE ROSTER

No moves today. Still 40 players in camp: 22 pitchers, four catchers, eight infielders, six outfielders.

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Cole Tucker, SS
2. Bryan Reynolds, CF
3. Kevin Newman, 2B
4. Yoshi Tsutsugo, 1B
5. Greg Allen, LF
6. Roberto Perez, C
7. Daniel Vogelbach, DH
8. Ben Gamel, RF
9. Hoy Park, 3B

And for Charlie Montoyo's Blue Jays:

1. Cavan Biggio, 2B
2. Santiago Espinal, SS
3. Greg Bird, 1B
4. Alejandro Kirk, DH
5. Raimel Tapia, 1B
6. Reese McGuire, C
7. Nathan Lukes, LF
8. Gosuke Katoh, 3B
9. Sebastian Espino, RF

THE SCHEDULE

It's right back down I-75 to Fort Myers for a 1:05 p.m. game with the Red Sox. Brubaker vs. Nathan Eovaldi.

THE CONTENT

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