Bullpen Woes: Crick Falls Apart Again While Middle Relief Soars

The bullpen continued its 2020 woes last night blowing a four-run lead in the ninth before eventually falling 6-5 in the 11th. There were positives and negatives throughout the night, but the closer's role has really come into question as of late.

Going into the ninth inning of their home opener against the Milwaukee Brewers, it looked like the Pittsburgh Pirates all but had the win. They were leading 5-1 and had just put up a crooked number two innings ago on a Jarrod Dyson two-RBI single. However, a combination of Michael Feliz and Kyle Crick saw that lead evaporate and the game went into extra innings. The Pirates eventually fell 6-5 in 11 innings and went from possibly being a 2-2 team in a good position to a 1-3 team battling from behind. If the Pirates want to have any chance of being competitive this season, the bullpen has to step up and be more reliable late in games.

The biggest concern in the Pirates bullpen right now is who is going to step up and hold down the closer's role. Nick Burdi pitched well on Sunday, but it wasn't an official save situation, and Kyle Crick has just looked awful every time out. There has been strong middle relief from guys like Chris Stratton and Clay Holmes, but those efforts have seemed to go to waste late in games. Today, we are going to break down the bullpen and look at the good and the bad that has gotten the Pirates out to their 1-3 start in National League Central play.

The Bad: Late Game Relief

Aside from Nick Burdi, everyone that the Pirates have tried to throw out there in late-inning relief has not fared well. Crick has just not looked like himself at all, losing zip on his fastball and seemingly losing control of his breaking stuff. Michael Feliz is either really good or really bad like last night and Richard Rodriguez is far too susceptible to the home run ball. All of these add up to shaky ninth-innings and the sheer fact that no Pirates lead is safe. The offense has been doing their part, scoring four or more runs in three of the first four games this season, but the bullpen has not been able to preserve leads and keep the opposition off the board. So, who can Shelton rely on when the team goes into the ninth with the game on the line?

As of right now, the short answer is to give Burdi a shot at the role full time. 2020 is more or less an experimental year for the Pirates and they have to see what they have in their young guys. Burdi is just 27-years old and can consistently hit 99 on the radar gun. Not only does he have the speed, but he also proved on Sunday he can get outs against any part of the order. He came in in the ninth inning on Sunday and had to face Paul Goldschmidt, Paul DeJong, and Matt Carpenter in succession. He ended up striking out all three and securing the Pirates lone win of the season. You aren't going to face a much tougher threesome in the big leagues, and that outing alone showed he had what it took.

On the other side, Crick has looked terrible both in exhibition games and his two regular-season appearances. He does not have an ERA after two outings this year, but don't let that deter from the fact that he has given up some devastating hits. Not only did he give up the big hit to Ryan Braun last night, but he gave up almost half of the runs in the Pirates 9-1 loss in St. Louis on Saturday. Crick has allowed four unearned runs in one inning of work while walking one and striking out two. With Keone Kela being out for who knows how long, the Pirates can't keep waiting for Crick to turnaround. It is time to see what Burdi can do in the ninth inning for now and the future of this team.

The Good: Middle Relief Has Been Strong

One part of the bullpen that has been strong over the last two games is their middle relief pitchers. They have come into games where the Pirates had been leading or tied and are doing a nice job of keeping their team in the game. The best example of this effort came after last night's 1 hour 42 minutes rain delay. Chad Kuhl was expected to Piggy Back off of Steven Brault anyway, but the right-hander ended up coming in the game in the second inning and pitched marvelously. He lasted 3.2 innings not giving up a run while walking two and striking out four. He protected a 1-0 Pirates lead through that entire time and set up the bullpen for a chance to preserve a one-run lead.

Chris Stratton also pitched well, coming in to face one batter, ending the sixth inning with a caught stealing. At that point in the game, the Pirates were clinging to a 1-0 lead and those two did a nice job preserving it. After a bumpy seventh inning and a disastrous ninth inning, Dovydas Neverauskas came on and pitched well in extra-innings. He did just what you wanted him to do in the tenth getting a ground out to third to start the inning and not letting the courtesy runner score. However, the Pirates could not push a run across in the bottom half so the game moved to the 11th. Neverauskas did allow the runner to score in the 11th but kept it a one-run game stranding runners at the corners. With the new rule in place, that runner from second base is bound to score in extra-innings more often than not. Neverauskas came up with some big outs in his two innings of work, but his offense just couldn't pick him up.

It is good to see both Kuhl and Stratton off to a hot start because those are the guys who will be called on when a starter struggles. Clay Holmes and JT Brubaker can also be thrown into the mix of guys off to a hot start in their first outings. With these four pitching well, the Pirates have a nice bridge to the end of the game. All four of the starters who have pitched have done a decent job of keeping their team in games before turning it over to the bullpen. It is now up to the bullpen as a whole to be better and preserve the lead when the Pirates have it. Wins are more important this season than ever, and one blown lead could be the difference between making the playoffs and being out of luck at the end of the season.

The bullpen will look to rebound tonight when they play game two of their three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers at 7:05 pm. Lefty Derek Holland (0-0) will be making his Pittsburgh Pirates debut getting the start while the Brewers will counter with former Pirates pitcher Josh Lindbloom (0-0). You can watch the game live on AT&T Sportsnet or listen on 93.7 The Fan. Follow along for all things Pirates coverage on Facebook, Buccos Cove, and Twitter, @Buccos_Cove.