PITTSBURGH — The Pirates may have dodged a bullet, as right-handed receiver Neftali Feliz is “feeling better today than yesterday,” according to Head Athletic Trainer Todd Tomczyk, as relayed through manager Clint Hurdle.
Feliz left his relief appearance prematurely Saturday night with right arm discomfort — a scary diagnosis for any pitcher. The Pirates have no further update on his prognosis or when he may return to the mound, but suffice to say, he is unavailable for Sunday’s game.
Unavailable. There’s that word again. As I wrote Saturday, the Pirates made Antonio Bastardo and Juan Nicasio unavailable for the first game of the Cubs series, while at the same time, not hesitating to send Feliz and Felipe Rivero back out there.
I asked Hurdle what goes into determining if a reliever is available. It starts with a system that was put in place by general manager Neal Huntington and his staff.
“We had a program put in place when I arrived here back in 2011 as far as touches, innings and pitches per outing, what’s acceptable, what’s not, what can push them back-to-back, what can push them possibly to three days in a row and what pushes them out — when they need a day off,” Hurdle said.
That calculus is specifically configured for each player and has been tweaked from season-to-season. But during the year, the Pirates stress self-compliance. When a pitcher has crossed that line, they don’t pitch, regardless of the circumstances. Having that stance makes it easier to communicate honestly and openly with the pitchers and allows them to be involved in the process.
“The pitcher has ownership, as well,” Hurdle said. “That usually takes a little bit of time for us to get that trust in place where they will actually say, ‘Yeah, I could use a day.’ More often than not, they want to take the ball, and then if they give up four runs, they say, ‘I was tired.’”
There’s a progression as far the comfort level between the pitcher and the staff. Tony Watson, who has been around since 2011, experienced some of those days where he took the ball one too many times. As a result, he’s invested in making sure it doesn’t happen.
“As you get older and you’ve been through more, you know what you can do and what you can’t do,” he said. “As a rookie, you think you can just go every day, and you can’t. You just can’t go out there every day. If you’re out there and you don’t have your legs under you and you’re trying to be a hero, you can put the team in jeopardy. It’s not a good combination. You just learn from experiences. … You have to play it smart. It’s a long season. We’re expecting to play deep into October.”
The Pirates are aware that their stance isn’t one that has a long history in the game, or even one that is adopted by many other teams, and thus can be controversial at times.
“We do things differently here, as has been evident by the comments we get back from pitchers that have been other places and get here on how this is applied and how it’s trusted,” Hurdle said. “The success we’ve had from it by the bullpen guys and — knock on wood — the availability of guys for the six years I’ve been here and the lack of DL time for the relievers.”
Bastardo is on his third team and second stint with the Pirates. He appreciates the way they go about things.
“I think they’re doing a great job,” he said. “Sometimes, it doesn’t matter if you throw 20 or 25 pitches if you have a rough outing or something like that. I think they do a great job because they’re trying to keep everybody fresh, but at the same time, they let you pitch. You can pitch three days in a row. But if you need an extra day, they give it to you.”
Hurdle said all decisions about whether a player can pitch are not are made pregame and they involved himself, pitching coach Ray Searage, bullpen coach Euclides Rojas and the player.
“We do know before the game whether we’re using a man or not,” Hurdle said. “There’s no, ‘Oh my gosh the game is really important, now we’re going to push him back out there.’ Our mind is made up beforehand.”
One thing that Hurdle may decide to change in the future is the amount of transparency he has on the subject. By announcing before games that certain relievers are unavailable, it helps fans understand his decision-making processes. But it could also provide a competitive advantage for an opponent who might not otherwise know that the Pirates have a reliever down for the day.
“It’s better that we keep that in-house from a competitive standpoint,” Hurdle said. “I’m actually mulling over next year keeping more of it in-house. Because I’ve always been very transparent [if we’re not going to use someone today.] … That’s something that I’m considering [changing] moving forward.”
DAY OFF
Catcher Chris Stewart will see his first action since returning from the disabled list in favor of Francisco Cervelli. Cervelli was hit by a pitch in his elbow in the eighth inning last night. But Hurdle said it’s just a rest day.
“It was tough games as far as the endurance factor for Cervelli the last two games,” Hurdle said. “A lot of pitches. He got hit He got dinged. He did a lot of blocking. We’ll give him a blow today.”
Here is today’s lineup against the Brewers:
Here's our lineup for today.#FamaleeForever pic.twitter.com/Otukw2RC2W
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 4, 2016
