Andrew Heaney had been one of the rotation's best, with a 2.50 ERA through his first six starts, but he sure didn't have it today at PNC Park in the Pirates' 4-0 loss to the Padres, tagged for all four of those runs and eight hits over just 3 2/3 innings.
He was all over the strike zone, couldn't make a pitch when needed and, in particular, often missed the inside edge of the zone against right-handed batters:
BASEBALL SAVANT
He threw 56 pitches over the first two innings, facing seven hitters in each, giving up doubles to Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and Brandon Lockridge, plus this to Elias Diaz:
"I was just nibbling and then not making pitches when I needed to," Heaney said.
He worked to a 2-2 count in the above at-bat after falling behind and needed to make one pitch. Instead, he left it too close to the middle and the Pirates' old catcher took advantage.
"If you're executing that ball on the inner half of the plate, which is such a tough pitch to hit for a right-handed hitter, then you get them aware of it, then you can get away with other misses," Derek Shelton said. "Today, because he was a little bit off in there, he wasn't able to get away with the other things."
Heaney's misses were noticeable in other facets, as well. He worked his way into a 1-2 count against Oscar Gonzalez in the first inning before missing with a fastball and a sinker that were well outside the zone. He then tried to punch him out with a fastball on the outside edge that was fouled off before missing with a low changeup.
Lastly, the southpaw gave up two more free passes in the fourth inning when he walked Bogaerts and Campusano in back-to-back at-bats.
His sixth pitch to Bogaerts probably should've been a called third strike:
However, he completely missed on four of his five pitches to Campusano and that brought his outing to an end.
He didn't receive much help, either. The Pirates were tagged for just one error, but there were several mistakes that forced him to throw extra pitches.
"It looked like he wasn't missing by much. He was missing. They were balls, but he wasn't missing by much, and they did not expand the zone," Shelton said. "Then, we had a play early in the game that just got underneath Ke'Bryan Hayes' glove, which ended up costing him 18 or 19 pitches. We threw a ball away we should have caught at the plate. There were a couple other factors that were involved in it."
The Pirates were also shut out for the sixth time. The offense had eight hits, two for extra bases -- Joey Bart's double and Matt Gorski's triple -- and went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position while leaving eight runners on base.
In Heaney's past two starts, he's thrown 8 1/3 innings, allowed eight earned runs, given up seven walks and and struck out just three. Both of those led to losses.
So, after being such a strong part of the rotation, how does he work his way back?
"Keep being aggressive in the zone and then making more quality pitches in big counts," Heaney replied to that question. "I think I did a good job early on, 1-1, 2-2 and when it was time to make a good pitch, I did. Here, I think I’ve kinda been falling behind or letting guys have free passes."
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
10:39 pm - 05.04.2025NORTH SHOREMound Visit: Heaney's misses again prove pivotal
Andrew Heaney had been one of the rotation's best, with a 2.50 ERA through his first six starts, but he sure didn't have it today at PNC Park in the Pirates' 4-0 loss to the Padres, tagged for all four of those runs and eight hits over just 3 2/3 innings.
He was all over the strike zone, couldn't make a pitch when needed and, in particular, often missed the inside edge of the zone against right-handed batters:
BASEBALL SAVANT
He threw 56 pitches over the first two innings, facing seven hitters in each, giving up doubles to Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and Brandon Lockridge, plus this to Elias Diaz:
"I was just nibbling and then not making pitches when I needed to," Heaney said.
He worked to a 2-2 count in the above at-bat after falling behind and needed to make one pitch. Instead, he left it too close to the middle and the Pirates' old catcher took advantage.
"If you're executing that ball on the inner half of the plate, which is such a tough pitch to hit for a right-handed hitter, then you get them aware of it, then you can get away with other misses," Derek Shelton said. "Today, because he was a little bit off in there, he wasn't able to get away with the other things."
Heaney's misses were noticeable in other facets, as well. He worked his way into a 1-2 count against Oscar Gonzalez in the first inning before missing with a fastball and a sinker that were well outside the zone. He then tried to punch him out with a fastball on the outside edge that was fouled off before missing with a low changeup.
Lastly, the southpaw gave up two more free passes in the fourth inning when he walked Bogaerts and Campusano in back-to-back at-bats.
His sixth pitch to Bogaerts probably should've been a called third strike:
However, he completely missed on four of his five pitches to Campusano and that brought his outing to an end.
He didn't receive much help, either. The Pirates were tagged for just one error, but there were several mistakes that forced him to throw extra pitches.
"It looked like he wasn't missing by much. He was missing. They were balls, but he wasn't missing by much, and they did not expand the zone," Shelton said. "Then, we had a play early in the game that just got underneath Ke'Bryan Hayes' glove, which ended up costing him 18 or 19 pitches. We threw a ball away we should have caught at the plate. There were a couple other factors that were involved in it."
The Pirates were also shut out for the sixth time. The offense had eight hits, two for extra bases -- Joey Bart's double and Matt Gorski's triple -- and went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position while leaving eight runners on base.
In Heaney's past two starts, he's thrown 8 1/3 innings, allowed eight earned runs, given up seven walks and and struck out just three. Both of those led to losses.
So, after being such a strong part of the rotation, how does he work his way back?
"Keep being aggressive in the zone and then making more quality pitches in big counts," Heaney replied to that question. "I think I did a good job early on, 1-1, 2-2 and when it was time to make a good pitch, I did. Here, I think I’ve kinda been falling behind or letting guys have free passes."
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
We’d love to have you!