As Carmen Mlodzinski adjusts to life back in the Pirates bullpen, Don Kelly thinks it may take some time for him to develop a sense of comfortability in a familiar role. 

But, even after Mlodzinski allowed four earned runs on three extra-base hits in the Pirates' 7-3 loss to the Tigers tonight at Comerica Park, Kelly appears confident in what Mlodzinski can do as a reliever. 

"He's been starting all year, but he's been really good in the past for us out of the pen," Kelly said. "His arm looks good and he's throwing the ball well. I think it just caught too much of the plate (tonight), that's what I heard."

Mlodzinski's transition back into a reliever's role comes after a rather lengthy stint as a starter to begin the season. He made nine starts at the major-league level before being optioned to Class AAA Indianapolis and finding success over three starts there. Now, he's back with the big-league club and has been tasked with aiding the bullpen rather than rejoining a rotation that now features Mike Burrows in addition to Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Andrew Heaney and Bailey Falter.

Mlodzinski's first outing back was commendable. He attacked the strike zone in throwing 19 of his 25 pitches for strikes and allowed three hits over two scoreless innings against the Cubs in Chicago on Friday night. 

But on this night, Mlodzinski ran into more than his fair share of trouble over two innings in relief of Falter. He gave up four hits, including this Wenceel Perez triple that put the Tigers ahead 4-3 in the sixth: 

Then, he struggled to keep the ball in the ballpark. He allowed this no-doubt shot to Javier Baez ... 

... and this two-run bomb to Riley Greene, one that prompted a rather disappointed reaction from Mlodzinski the moment it left the bat: 

This sequence of events combined to create a much different story than Mlodzinski's last relief appearance. He failed to finish Baez and Greene in two-strike counts and let a few pitches catch way too much of the plate. When that happens against a good offensive team that has scored the fifth-most runs (358) and boasts the eighth-highest slugging percentage (.416) in Major League Baseball, pitchers tend to pay for their mistakes. 

"They're not to be taken lightly," Mlodzinski said. "They've swung the bat well and they're hot. If you execute the pitch perfectly, you're probably going to get the results you want. Not all the time. You can't live and die on perfect execution all the time." 

While it may take Mlodzinski some time to find his footing as a reliever again, it's not like he hasn't been productive in this role before. Mlodzinski entered tonight's game with a 3.00 ERA and 1.25 WHIP over 71 career relief appearances in the major leagues. He had thrown 81 innings and posted 76 strikeouts and 34 walks while holding opposing hitters to a .226 batting average. 

"I know what it takes," Mlodzinski told me. "Doesn't mean I necessarily have that right now. It's honestly been a struggle for me this year. I go into a new role, I struggle in that new role and get optioned. Then, coming back, I'm put into another new role. It just hasn't been going well this year. I don't want to point at one thing and say 'this is it,' but it's just not clicking right now." 

Mlodzinski admitted that going from one role to another makes things more challenging. But he's confident he'll eventually right the ship and return to a form that will help provide value to the bullpen. 

"It's hard to be consistent when you're presented different things," Mlodzinski said. "I'm gonna get adjusted to it. I'm more than happy to be a Swiss Army knife, cover long innings and be some sort of leverage guy, some sort of length guy. I've done that for most of my career. But right now, I'm honestly just trying to simplify stuff. Just pitching more than thinking about what my role is, or how many outs I'm expected to get. Just simplify things and get one out at a time at this point."