Pittsburgh Pirates 2021 Previews: RHP Kyle Crick
Ever since coming to the Pirates during the 2018 trade of Andrew McCutchen, relief pitcher Kyle Crick has had a bag of mixed results in Pittsburgh. He came out of the gates strong in 2018 with a 2.39 ERA in 64 outings, but since then things have been downhill for the 28-year-old. 2020 was his worst performance yet and one he would like to forget altogether. He was destined to take over as the Pirates closer during the season, a role that he failed miserably in early on. Then, injuries started to mount and he ended up missing almost the entire season due to strained lat muscle. His fastball hasn't had the life it has had in the past and the Pirates and Crick are trying to figure out why.
After appearing in only seven games during the 2020 season, Crick should be all rested and rejuvenated heading into 2021. The closer's role is once again up for grabs, but Richard Rodriguez is likely to be the one handling the duties after having success last season. Crick will have competition for the set-up role too with guys like Blake Cederlind and David Bednar vying for spots in the Pirates bullpen. Crick is going to have to show that the life is back in his fastball and he can control it consistently. It will take some time to regain the trust of his manager, but he will look to be a big part of the back-end of the Pirates bullpen.
2020: A Year of Injuries
Crick had a hard time right from the get-go in 2020, and his velocity was the tale-tell sign that something was wrong. After having a fastball that averaged 98 miles per hour in prior seasons, he found it hard to hit 91 mph on a consistent basis. That problem became even more apparent when he started working in games. His first appearance came in the Pirate's first exhibition game with the Cleveland Indians where he got knocked around in 0.2 innings. He allowed four earned runs on two hits while walking two batters in a game the Pirates would ultimately lose. He got another shot two days later and had better results, but still gave up a run on two hits in an inning of work.
Once the real games began, Crick didn't get much better as the team's closer. His first outing came on July 25th against the St. Louis Cardinals and blew a lead. He gave up four unearned runs on two hits while walking one and striking out two. He allowed a hit in 0.1 innings in his next outing, but the injury problem was finally discovered. He went on the Injured list on July 28th and missed the next month of the season with his lat strain. He went through a short rehab stint at the Pirates alternate training site and returned to the Pirates on August 30th. He would not be put back in the closer's role, but instead eased into games.
When he returned in late August, he put together a stretch of four straight outings where he did not give up an earned run and entered his final start with an ERA of 0.00 even though he had given up five unearned runs that season. His final outing came on September 12th against the Kansas City Royals where he gave up an earned run in 0.2 innings of work to end the year. He was shut down after that point to fully recover and prepare for the upcoming 2021 season. He is now one of the veterans in the bullpen and he will be looked at to help the young guys as they develop onto everyday Major League relief pitchers.
Rebounding For 2021
Even though Crick has had back-to-back rough seasons, I still feel there is a good Major League reliever in there. I do not see him as a closer, but if you move him out of the high-profile situations he should be able to relax and just throw. When he first got here, the Pirates had Felipe Vazquez in the closer's role and Crick was used as a seventh or eighth inning man. He excelled, pitching to a 2.34 ERA that season over 64 appearances. I don't see Crick as a back-end bullpen guy anymore, but moving him to middle relief might be a way the Pirates can get the most out of Crick. He already was on Pirates fans bad side because of the Andrew McCutchen trade, but now he has a chance to get back in their good graces with a bounce-back season.
According to Baseball Savant, Crick's average fastball velocity during the 2020 season was 90.9 mph. That is five mph lower than where it sat in 2019, and eight miles per hour slower than it was in 2018. There has really been no explanation as to why the velocity dropped off so much, but he could use that to go longer into games. The Pirates are searching for middle relievers to bridge the gap between the starters and the back-end of the bullpen and Crick could provide a veteran presence there. Being that he has been a groundball pitcher throughout his career he can work on pitching low in the zone and getting batters to roll over on his lower velocity.
Crick at one time was one of the best relievers in the Pirates bullpen but now will have to work his way back from the ground up. For the sake of the Pirates, I hope he is able to bounce back and provide some stability to a not so certain bullpen picture. The Pirates have many guys on the fringe of making the Opening Day roster including Carson Fulmer, Tyler Bashlor, and Austin Davis and Crick would help add some stability to that group. Plus, if he turns out to be good enough, he is another piece that you can flip for prospects as you continue to rebuild. I don't see Crick being a truly dominant reliever in 2021, but I think he will get back to some level of normalcy and be able to throw some solid innings for the Pirates.
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