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Pirates Notebook: Rotation is on an Impressive Run, Moroff Returns to the Lineup

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PITTSBURGH — The Pirates are on a pretty incredible run when it comes to their starting pitchers.

Since the beginning of the 2017 season, they’ve used just six, with Trevor Williams covering Jameson Taillon’s absence due to cancer treatment and then taking over for Tyler Glasnow.

That means that Gerrit Cole (20), Ivan Nova (19) and Chad Kuhl (19) are all in the top 50 in games started in the majors.

Nova has been stellar for most of the season and Cole has worked through some rough patches while constantly going deep into games. Kuhl has gotten better as the season went on and all three are on pace to pitch near or exceed their career highs in innings.

But manager Clint Hurdle sees the experience as far more of a positive than a negative.

“What I’m most optimistic about is that our young pitchers are posting up, mounting up, they’re gaining experience and it’s putting them in a better position to compete in the second half,” he said.

Hurdle said that after the All-Star break, some extra rest for Nova was priority in resetting the rotation, but that all five of his pitchers should be good to go for the duration if they can keep it together.

“We’re very confident that everything is manageable at this point in time,” he said.

Maybe more impressive than the fact that the Pirates have gotten by with six starters is that they’ve done it with no injuries. Nova left a start early in Baltimore in early June with a knee issue, but didn’t miss a start. Kuhl didn’t either when he was struck by a line drive and had to be pulled in Miami. Only Taillon’s cancer diagnosis and his bout of food poisoning right before the break have kept the Pirates from starting the pitcher they’d have liked to every day. Hurdle said that’s a testament to the condition of his athletes.

“Health is huge,” Hurdle said. “Our preparation program, the work they do, the throwing the sessions that are monitored and the recovery portion of it plays. Then there’s just the fact that you keep pushing forward.”

STARTING LINEUP

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