Battle For Lefties: The Pirates Left-Handed Relief Options for 2021
The key to any bullpen's success is a healthy balance of pitchers that help counteract each other. In the most basic sense, that means having a nice balance of right-handed and left-handed pitchers to turn to. The Pirates have been blessed with some good lefties over the years with Tony Watson, Justin Wilson, and Javier Lopez just to name a few recent lefty stars. However, a look at this year's left-handed pitchers pole isn't nearly as impressive as those three names listed earlier. Leading the way is Steven Brault, but he is almost a lock for the rotation, and there are only three other lefties on the roster. All three saw some time in the bullpen last season, and all three once again will be competing for a spot in 2021.
Sam Howard, Nik Turley, and Austin Davis are the three aforementioned pitchers and all have had some ups and downs in their career. Howard and Turley were both picked up last off-season and the Pirates traded a player to be named later (Joel Cesar) and cash to the Phillies for Davis's services. All three appeared in at least five games for the Pirates and had at least a little bit of time to flash what they can do in front of the Pirates coaching staff. With so much young right-handed talent in the form of Geoff Hartlieb, Blake Cederlind, and Edgar Santana available, it can be easy to forget about how important a lefty can be. We look at all three lefty bullpen options and what their impact on the 2021 Pirates might be.
#51 Nik Turley
Waiver claims are usually moves that aren't very publicized and can sometimes have very little impact. The Pirates made one of these waiver claims back in 2017 when they picked up left-hander Nik Turley off waivers from the Minnesota Twins. After the claim, Turley spent two years on the injured list with a sprained elbow and was finally at full strength for Spring Training 2020. He impressed the Pirates with 3.1 scoreless innings, spanning four outings, and earned a spot on the Opening Day Roster. It was an up and down year in terms of success for Turley as he went 0-3 with a 4.98 ERA over 21.2 innings of work. He missed a lot of bats with a .173 opponent batting average and struck out 20 batters during the year.
Turley is the rare exception when it comes to left-handers as he does better against right-handed batters. Turley held righties to a .151 average while lefties hit .227 against him during the season. He has a two-pitch arsenal that he balances pretty well between his fastball and his curveball. His fastball was almost untouchable last season allowing a .148 average against the pitch while striking out 11 batters. As for his curveball, he allowed just three extra-base hits on the pitch and an opponent batting average of .238. Turley got stronger as the season went on having scoreless appearances in five of his final six appearances and will be competing for a bullpen spot once again in 2021.
#54 Sam Howard
One of the biggest surprises in the Pirates bullpen last season was the success of Sam Howard. Another waiver claim, the Pirates picked up Howard from the Colorado Rockies, where he posted an ERA of 6.60 in 2019. However, he completely turned things around in 2020 going 2-3 with a 3.86 ERA spanning 21 innings of work. He had a strong month of August posting a 2.77 ERA over 12 appearances from August 2nd to the 31st. He didn't allow a run over his first four innings in a Buccos Uniform and had a bullpen-low 1.80 ERA in mid-August. However, a 5.23 ERA in the month of September jumped his ERA into the mid threes by seasons end.
Howard likes to go to his breaking ball first, with his slider being his most used pitch at 62.3%. It was his most effective pitch as opponents hit just .200 against it and it generated 16 of his 27 strikeouts during the season. His fastball is his secondary pitch, and usually, the one he uses when he needs to get an out. It has a put-away rate of 30.4% and Howard allowed just three extra-base hits off of the pitch. Howard is another guy who actually pitched better against right-handed batters with a .200 opponent average vs. a .259 opponent average against lefties. Howard had the most success of any left-hander in the Pirates bullpen last season and is another guy hoping to lock down a spot for 2021.
#35 Austin Davis
Last season, one of the first moves the Pirates made ahead of the Trade Deadline was a minor deal with the Phillies. The Pirates sent a player to be named later, who would turn out to be Minor Leaguer Joel Ceasar and $100,000 for left-handed reliever Austin Davis. The trade happened on August 26th, and Davis went to the injured list the next day. He would be recalled to the Pirates in mid-September and ended up appearing in five games for Pittsburgh, posting a 2.45 ERA over 3.1 innings of work while striking out three and walking one. After allowing seven earned runs in four games with the Phillies, it was a vast improvement over the start of his season.
Davis's splits are kind of skewed as he allowed just a 5.40 ERA against lefties, but allowed an opponent batting average of .636 against them last season. Likewise, his ERA was 12.60 against righties, but they hit just .211 against him. He did not strike out a lefty all season, with all five of his strikeouts coming against right-handed batters. Davis pitched in four games for the Pirates during the 2020 season and allowed just one earned run in his third appearance. In fact, he allowed just one hit during his time with the Pirates, and that was a solo home run. He dealt with injuries last year, but the 27-year old is out to show that he can be a big part of the Pirates bullpen in 2020.
Comments
Post a Comment