49.6 F
Pittsburgh

First Pitch: The Pirates Are Starting to Have a Favorable Pitching Situation

Published:

The Pirates are about to be in a situation you probably wouldn’t have expected a few weeks ago — they’re about to have too much pitching.

The rotation looks set out of the break, with Jameson Taillon coming off the disabled list on Tuesday, joining Gerrit Cole, Francisco Liriano, Chad Kuhl, and Jeff Locke in the mix.

But then there’s Tyler Glasnow in Triple-A. He could use some work on his command, and it’s hard to argue that he should be in the rotation right now over any of those other guys. If anyone starts to struggle, such as Locke ending his hot streak lately, then Glasnow would make sense. The Pirates also have Steven Brault and Trevor Williams pitching very well in Triple-A.

They moved Jon Niese to the bullpen this weekend, and he had a good outing today against the Nationals in relief. Niese could perform much better out of the bullpen, similar to how Juan Nicasio has done since his move from the rotation. This would give the Pirates another long-man, another lefty, and would round out their bullpen. They already have Mark Melancon, Tony Watson, Neftali Feliz, Arquimedes Caminero, Nicasio, A.J. Schugel, and Jared Hughes.

One of the relievers will have to go on Tuesday when Taillon is activated off the disabled list. Then another decision will come by the start of August when Ryan Vogelsong is activated. A month ago, this decision would have been easy: Send down or DFA Arquimedes Caminero and Jared Hughes. But both of those pitchers have performed better lately. A.J. Schugel has also been performing well.

They could option Schugel and Hughes for a month, just to preserve depth. While the MLB roster is looking crowded at the moment, and while you could make a case for Schugel and Hughes being up, it’s not like they’ve got good bullpen options coming out of Indianapolis right now, unless they’d want to use Brault and Williams in that role.

There’s also the possibility that they could trade someone to make room, such as dealing Niese or someone else from the bullpen.

It’s good that this is their situation. A month ago, A.J. Schugel looked like one of the few decent relievers on the team, and the rotation was a mess. Now? Schugel is a candidate to be sent down, and not because his results would warrant that. Meanwhile, the rotation is looking much better, with three prospects in Triple-A still knocking on the door.

We’ll start to get some answers on what they’ll do in the upcoming week, with the first decisions coming on Tuesday when Taillon is activated.

As usual on Sunday, we recap the top stories of the week. Even during the All-Star break, we have so many features and stories that it’s easy to fall behind and completely miss a story or two. So here are the top stories from the past week, with a lot of live prospects coverage, including a big focus on rehab assignments and the new prep pitchers. Be sure to subscribe to get all of these articles, and all of our articles going forward.

10. Neal Huntington met with the media this afternoon, and there was a lot of prospect talk. He reviewed the 2016 draft, and talked about how they’re going to get Josh Bell some time in the outfield. That might not speak well for Gregory Polanco’s hamstring, with the decision on that coming Tuesday. If Polanco does go on the DL, they could bring Josh Bell back up, despite optioning him on Saturday.

9. Yeudy Garcia was last year’s breakout pitcher, but hasn’t looked the same this year, up until the last month. He’s starting to look better, and I wrote about some of the changes he’s seeing, with his velocity returning, better fastball command, and the new reliance on a changeup.

8. Chad Kuhl had an outstanding start Sunday, helping the Pirates to rebound after two straight losses coming out of the break. Prior to the break, Kuhl had his worst start of his young pro career. Ed Giles looked at his struggles recently, noting that he needs to keep the ball down. The best part about Sunday’s start was that we still haven’t seen the best version of Kuhl, since he’s still elevating the ball.

7. Edwin Espinal has been putting up some good numbers this year in Altoona, posting a .766 OPS at the age of 22, up from a .667 OPS last year in Bradenton. Sean McCool wrote about how Espinal’s off-season work with Bartolo Colon, and some advice from Manny Ramirez have helped him post his best career numbers so far this season.

6. The MLB draft signing deadline was this week, and the Pirates had some activity. Nick Lodolo decided to go to TCU, turning down $1.75 M. The Pirates then took the extra money and gave it to 33rd round pick Austin Shields. That gave them a fourth prep pitcher to add to the mix of Travis MacGregor, Braeden Ogle, and Max Kranick.

5. Speaking of the other prep pitchers, we had a lot of coverage on them this week. I had features on Max Kranick and Braeden Ogle, giving information on each player that wasn’t available in their pre-draft reports. I also covered Kranick’s pro debut, and covered Travis MacGregor’s four inning start, breaking down his delivery.

4. We had a lot of live rehab coverage this week. I covered Elias Diaz at the start of the week, and Sean McCool continued that in Altoona at the end of the week. Sean reported tonight that Diaz will go to Indianapolis for the next step in his rehab. Sean also covered Ryan Vogelsong’s rehab start in Altoona over the weekend. I covered Nick Kingham’s latest rehab start, noting that he won’t pitch more than five innings in a start this year.

3. Speaking of Vogelsong, Sean McCool wrote about the lasting impression he made on the Altoona roster, spending extra time in the clubhouse, giving advice to younger players, and staying open to any questions they had. Say what you will about whether he should be on the roster and anything else involving the on-field, but he’s definitely a class act. I don’t know many players who would do what he did, and definitely not veteran players who have been around as long as he has.

2. The trade deadline is approaching, and the Pirates have already been connected to a few pitchers. That’s not a surprise, as pitching is the only need where it makes sense for the Pirates to add. And Neal Huntington was very open on Sunday in saying they planned to add at the deadline.

1. During the All-Star break, I had my first half recap, second half preview, and trade deadline thoughts. If you’re looking for black and white analysis, these aren’t going to be for you. This season has been very nuanced, and as a result, the articles take a nuanced view, looking at everything which factored into the season, and could factor going forward.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

Related Articles

Article Drop

Latest Articles