Pirates End of the Year Awards: Cy Young Award Steven Brault

Before we officially close the calendar on 2020, we look back at our Buccos Cove Year-End Pirates Awards. Today, we look at the pitching staff to hand out our Pirates Cy Young Award Winner.

When you look back at the Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation in 2020, there isn't a lot of positives to build off of. As a unit, they went five or more innings only a few times all season and the starters' ERA was a staggering 4.47. It doesn't help that the team was missing four of their top starters for a majority of the season, and were forced to call up young guys to step into roles they weren't ready for. However, there were some positives as guys like JT Brubaker and Cody Ponce had solid MLB debuts and others stepped up and turned in big starts at the end of the year. Today, we look at who the best overall starting pitcher for the Pirates was with our Buccos Cove Year-end CY Young Award winner.

After starting the year as a piggyback starter, Steven Brault really came out of his shell and showed he could be a quality Big League starter. He excelled both as the first half of a piggy-back tandem and in the full-time starting rotation posting a 3.38 ERA, the lowest of any of Pittsburgh's starters during the season. That is why your 2020 Buccos Cove Cy Young Award winner is Steven Brault. Brault did not allow an earned run through his first five starts of the season and, aside from one rough bullpen outing, was the picture of consistency on the mound. Without Brault's efforts the Pirates pitching staff could have been in a lot worse shape than it already was.

A Freaking Throwing Machine

It was before his first career complete game on September 17th, 2020, that Brault completely changed his thinking. He was coming off two rough outings and saw his ERA sitting in the low fives. That is when he decides he wasn't going to think anymore, he was just going to be an "absolute freaking throwing machine." He went on to allow just one earned run in his final 16 innings of the season and the new mentality seemed to suit the 28-year-old. Brault is not going to blow anything by you, but when he locates his fastball, it can be deadly. He finished the year going 1-3 with a 3.38 ERA over 42.2 innings, setting a new career low for ERA.

Aside from those two bad outings in early September, Brault was a strong piece of the Pirates rotation for the entire season. Over his first 12 innings as a starting pitcher, he didn't give up a single earned run. He was pitching in two to three-inning bursts being that he was the first half of a piggy-back, but he was showing good control with just four walks and a higher than usual strikeout rate, setting down nine batters during those 12 innings. His only blemish at the beginning of the season was a relief outing where he gave up four earned runs without getting an out on August 7th against the Detroit Tigers.

The biggest reason for Brault's success in 2020 was the fact that he wasn't giving up as much hard contact as he has in past years. His hard-hit percentage was a career-low 32.7%, which is just about three percent less than league average. As a result, Brault allowed just four extra-base hits all season, two doubles, and two home runs. Overall, Brault was nearly unhittable for most of the season and allowed an opponent batting average of just .195 which ranked seventh among all Major League Starting Pitchers. Once he got out of his own head, he could relax and just throw the ball making things a lot easier on the mound.

The other thing that helped is Brault's heightened strikeout ability throughout the season. He set down a career-high 21.7% of the batters he faced, using his fastball and his slider as his two-out pitches. His fastball generated 16 of his 38 strikeouts during the year and had a put-away percentage of 17.2%. His other strikeout pitch was his slider which he used more than ever at 22.5% of the time. He picked up 12 strikeouts with that pitch but it seemed to be hit or miss as he also allowed three of his four extra-base hits on the slider. If Brault needed an out early in the count, he would go to his sinker with a put-away percentage of 37.5%.

Pitching His Way to 2021

With his dominant performance in 2021, Brault has essentially pitched his way into the Pirates' 2021 starting rotation. At 28-years-old, he is still on the younger side for an MLB starting pitcher and could provide the Pirates help for several more years. He is one of seven Pirates who will head into arbitration this year, and he is looking at a pay raise. Last season, Brault made two million dollars last season and could see upwards of three million based on his 2020 performance. That is still a pretty team-friendly contract especially if Brault can continue that success into 2021. However, you also run the risk of Brault coming back down to Earth and 2020 proving to be a lie.

There have been rumors circling about Brault on the trade market, with several teams showing interest in the left-hander. Brault probably isn't going to bring you a big return, but a few lower-level prospects goes a long way in helping the Pirates in their rebuild. Brault has spent the last five seasons in Pittsburgh and has bounced around between the starting rotation and bullpen, filling pretty much every role in between. He is looking for some consistency in 2021, and a spot in the Pirates rotation should he saved for him. If everything stays as it is now, Brault would probably lock up the four or five spot in the rotation, providing a break from all the Pirate's right-handers.

Given the current make-up of the roster, the starting rotation looks to be Jameson Taillon, Mitch Keller, Joe Musgrove, Steven Brault, and JT Brubaker. On paper, it is a group that isn't going to make the average fan excited, but it is also a group that has shown a lot of promise. With guys like Cody Ponce and Chad Kuhl also available for the bullpen or starting rotation depth, the pitching staff might turn out to be a strong suit for the Pirates in 2021, with Steven Brault leading the way from the back-end of the Pirates rotation. Brault looks to continue to be the Freaking Throwing Machine that earned him the Buccos Cove Pirates Cy Young Award in 2020.