The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Stephen Tarpley in the Travis Snider trade at the end of January. When the lefty first arrived in the system, I talked with him and fellow southpaw Steven Brault, who was the other player acquired for Snider. At the time, Tarpley had barely been throwing, with only one bullpen under his belt in the Spring. Today he threw two innings of live batting practice, giving me my first extended look at his stuff.
I talked with Tarpley after the outing, discussing what he has been working on with the Pirates. He’s still in the “no touch” phase of things, where the Pirates watch and evaluate his stuff. However, Tarpley will be approaching the pitching coaches soon to get some advice on his mechanics.
The specific thing he wants to work on is staying back, and being consistent with his delivery. That was an issue in the past for Tarpley, and he made some improvements after switching to a three-quarters arm slot. He’s hoping to get back to that success and those mechanics from the second half of last year, in order to start off strong this season.
Check out the video below for Tarpley explaining what he needs to work on with his mechanics, along with some video of his outing, including a three pitch strikeout to end his day.
