On Thursday, Roansy Contreras turned in arguably the best start of his major-league career, going six frames of one-run ball to lead the Pirates to a 4-2 win against the Reds Thursday, part of their doubleheader split at Great American BallPark before dropping game two, 5-1.
An hour after that first game, he was optioned to Class AAA Indianapolis.
The two aren't connected. In fact, Contreras is going to stay with the team on the taxi squad, and likely will continue to until the All-Star break. After throwing just 61 competitive innings in 2021 and not having a minor-league season in 2020, the Pirates want to monitor his arm and make sure he's not overworked. He's already thrown 50 in the majors this year and 20 1/3 innings for Indianapolis.
All signs indicate this a planned shutdown, and that he should resume pitching sometime shortly after the break, probably with Indianapolis first.
Without that context, the move to option him probably doesn't make any sense. Similarly, Contreras' outing Thursday has extra meaning if you know the context of his last start and how he is working to improve as a major-leaguer.
If his outing Thursday was the best of his major-league career -- and there certainly is a strong case for it, with a solo shot to Donovan Solano being his only blemish over six innings with seven strikeouts and just one walk -- his previous outing on July 1 was his worst. He was chased in the second inning of that one, allowing a trio of homers and struggling to be consistently in the strike zone.
"I really just have to give credit to some adjustments that I made during this week," Contreras said through interpreter Mike Gonzalez, later adding that he felt more balanced with his breaking ball. "I’m very grateful that the results came through."
Having conversations with pitching coach Oscar Marin, the work Contreras puts in between starts whenever he's clicking is impressive enough. Even when he pitches well, he comes in with ideas of what he felt, what he could improve on.
But the biggest adjustment he made, talking to Derek Shelton and Jason Delay, the latter of whom has caught him the last two years from Class AA to the majors, was his two-strike approach.
"I think some of it comes from the fact that he gets ahead [in the count] and gets back to even or behind and then has to throw a strike," Shelton said. "I think that's still a big part of his development and something we have to continue to focus on. Making sure that he's getting in those situations first time through, or any point, he's able to execute that pitch or get out of that situation quicker."
Looking at his pitch chart with two strikes, Contreras of course tried to bury a good chunk of sliders with two strikes, but his fastball was consistently either in the zone or just around it:

Two strike approach is something that's been preached to Contreras, not just by the coaches, but by catchers. Look back a start like what he had three outings ago against the Rays on June 26 when he walked five as an example as for why.
"His stuff’s elite," Delay said. "The past couple of years, the development side has been more staying in the zone, maybe fine tuning some things, understanding maybe how to attack certain guys in different ways. He's come a long way and I consider him to be one of the best."
The stuff is a big reason why Contreras was a top 100 prospect. His attitude after a couple bad outings is an indicator that he could stick in the majors long-term, this current option to the minors notwithstanding.
"I’m pretty sure ever since that last outing, a lot of people probably were wondering or thinking to themselves, ‘Man, Roansy’s in a hole. He’s probably gonna struggle getting out of there,’ " Contreras said. "However, I’ve always been a competitor. I’ve always come out with a winning mindset. Always ready to compete, putting in hard work, a lot of commitment and dedication and always trusting in myself. The mindset is always coming back, flushing the last outing, coming back and giving everything that I have to try and help the team win."
"I think throughout this entire experience, the biggest thing that I’ve learned is how important it is to flush those bad outings," he followed up shortly after. "To be able to move on and continue to trust the process. There’s always going to be another new day and another day to get better."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Delay's two trips to the majors have had a couple different ties to babies. When he was called up in St. Louis last month, his parents almost couldn't come to his debut because his sister was having her first baby. This time, he was added because Tyler Heineman is going home for the birth of his child.
Game one's start was identified as soon as Delay joined the taxi squad earlier this week as a possibility to start. He made a start to remember, picking up an RBI double for his first hit in addition to throwing out a potential base stealer:
Delay said afterwards he was probably more excited about the caught stealing.
" Being a defensive catcher, that’s just kind of my nature, I guess," Delay said.
I asked Diego Castillo, who was on the receiving end, if he even had to move the glove.
“Not really," Castillo said. "Just catch it and he was there. Perfect throw."
• Castillo chipped in to make it a solid day for the rookies, homering to break up Mike Minor's no-hit bid. Michael Chavis delivered the big hit in the sixth, a two-run, 106 mph double into the gap.
• Bryse Wilson was the 27th player for game two and turned in a gem, pitching into the seventh inning with only one earned run allowed.
That's two strong major-league outings in a row, this time relying on the two-seam fastball more to attack the zone.
"My four-seam analytically is a good pitch," Wilson explained. "I think I leaned on that just a little too much, which could force me to get behind in more counts because most of the time I throw it at the top of the zone. The two-seam is just a pitch that I can throw in, out. As long as it’s at the bottom of the zone, it can be effective. That’s what helps me throw a lot more strikes with it."
But things unraveled in the seventh when second baseman Josh VanMeter booted a routine ground ball with two outs, setting course for what would end up being a four run inning.
"It's a ball he possibly could have backhanded, and when he got in, it got off the heel of his glove," Shelton said.
The Pirates went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position too, giving Wilson virtually no room for error.
• This was just a tough one for the Pirates to get to, with one player telling me they didn't land in Cincinnati last night until 3 a.m. because of Wednesday's rain delay and sitting on the tarmac at the Pittsburgh airport. Tough break before playing two games, but the energy and effort were definitely there.
• After the second game, Shelton said that Kevin Newman and Jake Marisnick were both close to rejoining the team, Newman probably more so. So expect more roster moves whenever the team gets to Milwaukee. Both are currently on rehab assignments with Class AAA Indianapolis and on the 60-day injured list, so a 40 man roster move will have to be required to activate both. The roster currently stands at 39 players.
• Factoid of the Game: Left-hander Eric Stout took Contreras' spot on the roster and pitched the eighth inning of game two. He became the 55th different player the Pirates have used this year, the most for a team
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 15-day injured list: LHP Dillon Peters (back)
• 60-day injured list: SS Kevin Newman (groin), OF Jake Marisnick (thumb) OF Canaan Njigba-Smith (wrist), OF Greg Allen (hamstring), RHP Blake Cederlind (UCL), RHP Nick Mears (elbow surgery) RHP Max Kranick (elbow), Roberto Pérez (hamstring)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card for game two:
1. Ben Gamel, RF
2. Bryan Reynolds, CF
3. Daniel Vogelbach, DH
4. Michael Chavis, 1B
5. Jack Suwinski, LF
6. Oneil Cruz, SS
7. Diego Castillo, 3B
8. Josh VanMeter, 2B
9. Michael Perez, C
And for David Bell's Reds
1. Jonathan India, DH
2. Brandon Drury, 3B
3. Tommy Phan, LF
4. Tyler Naquin, RF
5. Kyle Farmer, SS
6. Mike Moustakas, 1B
7. Donovan Solano, 2B
8. Albert Almora Jr., CF
9. Michael Papierski, C
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates are already done with the first leg of their four city road trip to close out the first half of the season. Next up is Milwaukee, where JT Brubaker (2-7, 4.28) will take on Aaron Ashby (1-6, 4.60) and the Brewers at 8:10 p.m. Eastern. Chris Halicke is making the trip that series. I'll see yinz in Miami.
THE CONTENT
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