Playing against the organization that helped bring prominence to the "bullpen game" back in 2018, the Pirates relied on the commonly-used strategy for the fourth time in less than two weeks on Friday. The first three outings resulted in effective performances and three victories. This latest attempt wasn't as successful.
Carmen Mlodzinski was tabbed as the opener and allowed one run through 1 2/3 innings before Luis Ortiz struggled through four, allowing a season-high six runs -- four of which came via a pair of home runs by Josh Lowe in the sixth -- on 10 hits in the Pirates' 10-3 setback at the hands of the visiting Rays at PNC Park.
“Lowe hit the homer off him but they put the ball in play," Derek Shelton said. "There wasn’t a ton of hard contact, even with Carmen. There was not a lot of hard contact. Then, ultimately, the command wasn’t what we’ve seen over the last couple outings.
“We still have to execute pitches. We still had some hard-hit balls in there. There were some balls that got through but you’ve got to give the Rays credit. They put the ball in play.”
The Pirates have recently embraced the "bullpenning" craze to help fill the void of three injured starting pitchers in Martin Perez, Quinn Priester and Marco Gonzales. Mlodzinski has been their preferred choice as an opener, starting three of the four bullpen games he's been featured in before eventually turning things over to Ortiz. The pair of former longtime minor-league starters have generally been efficient in these particular roles prior to facing off against the Rays, who popularized the strategy in 2018 when they announced in spring training that they'd atone for injuries by using openers to fill two of the five turns through their starting rotation. It was initially a short-term plan that lasted longer than expected and wound up being effective for a 90-win team.
It wasn't the first or the last time an opener was used in a bullpen game, but it's certainly caught the attention of the baseball world over the last half decade. Openers have been commonly used by both low-budget teams and ones with higher payrolls. They've been turned to in regular-season contests and even in high-stakes World Series games as recent as this past October when the Diamondbacks entrusted Joe Mantiply to get the first four outs of Game 4 against the Rangers.
Prior to the Pirates' first bullpen game against the Twins on June 8, Shelton said he did think the usage of an opener would catch on like it has. In fact, he said the thought process into implementing that strategy actually dates back to 2015 when the Rays utilized Steve Geltz as an opener in two of the 70 appearances he made that season. Shelton was the hitting coach for the team back then.
“Starting pitching is so fragile that people are going to figure out ways to -- manipulate is probably a little aggressive -- but if we can script out a game and we can get the best matchups then, yeah, we’re going to do it," Shelton said earlier this month. "Generally, it’s like a playoff game. You don’t see starters pitch seven innings in a playoff game like they used to. If we get to the fifth inning and there’s a leverage matchup, we’re going for it. Now the difference is what you have to do at the front and back side.
"They are fun games to manage because you are looking for matchups. You’ve got to be sure you’re doing it in the right spot if you use an opener."
Sometimes the strategy works out with an opener getting a few quick outs and a middle relief arm following with multiple innings before turning to the high-leverage guys in the back end of the bullpen. Then again, sometimes the lack of a traditional starter ends up working against a team like it did for the Pirates on Friday. But when it comes down to determining whether it's a plan worth embracing, Shelton doesn't look at how other teams have fared with it.
"I don’t know if we can look throughout the league," Shelton said. "I think we have to just kind of internalize it, in terms of the way we feel and what we feel the matchups are and how they go.”
Shelton and company feel as if they have pitchers capable of excelling a few innings at a time while giving opposing hitters something different to gameplan for. They have relievers with starting experience in Mlodzinski, Ortiz, Josh Fleming and recently-recalled Daulton Jefferies in their arsenal, giving them at least four pitchers capable of providing length when called upon on a given night.
"We have multiple options with guys that can pitch length. We can pick the entry point and we can pick who we want depending on where the lineup is," Shelton said prior to Friday's game. "It does provide us different opportunities to deploy. And then the other thing that helps is just the fact that we had an off-day yesterday, we have an off-day in six days and then we have an off-day three days after that, so we can be a little more aggressive with that."
Through their first three bullpen games, the Pirates found desirable results with the strategy, allowing a total of four runs through 27 innings with Mlodzinski opening two of them and Fleming getting the start in Colorado on Sunday. Mlodzinski and Ortiz were the stars of the first two, combining to throw six scoreless innings against the Twins and allowing just one run in six more innings against the Rockies on June 14.
Against the Rays, though, the duo of Mlodzinski and Ortiz that has been so reliable faltered to the tune of a combined seven earned runs through 5 2/3 innings. Fleming got the lone out he needed in relief of Ortiz in the sixth and Jefferies collected eight straight outs through 2 2/3 innings before allowing three straight hits, including a three-run shot by Ben Rortvedt, to put a damper on an otherwise effective performance.
The timing of Perez beginning his rehab assignment at Class AAA Indianapolis comes at a perfect time. The bullpen games have ultimately served their purpose, guiding the Pirates to three wins in four tries, and proven effective in a pinch. Still, while they know they have the assets to turn to that particular strategy if necessary, it can only benefit the club to again have legitimate starting pitching depth.
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