Duane Underwood Jr. Brings More Competition to Pirates Bullpen
For the Pittsburgh Pirates, the 2020-2021 off-season has not been a quiet one. While most of the moves have led to subtractions from the Big League club, Ben Cherrington has also done his part to add some depth pieces to the current Big League roster. That is what he did on Sunday when he pulled off a trade for Chicago Cubs right-handed pitcher Duane Underwood JR. Underwood has spent the past three seasons in the Chicago Cubs bullpen and had put up below average Big League numbers. However, with the Pirates in need of pitching depth, Underwood Jr. will get an opportunity to turn things around in a Pirate uniform.
Over his three seasons in the Big Leagues, Underwood Jr. has gone 1-1 with a 5.20 ERA over 30 games, spanning 36.1 innings of work. He was a starting pitcher throughout his Minor League career, and has made one MLB start, but has mostly been used as a long reliever at the Major League level. He spent the 2020 season working out of the Cubs bullpen, going 1-0 with a 5.66 ERA over 20.2 innings of work while striking out seven. The Pirates got a good look at him last season, as he faced the club three times and allowed one earned run over four innings of work. Now, he is in the Black and Gold, and looking to add some competition for the long-relief role for the Pirates.
Developing Into a Major Leaguer
For Underwood Jr., the transition to Major League Baseball hasn't been the smoothest so far. He has a mid-90s fastball that he tries to work down in the zone, and for the most part, he gets a good amount of swings and misses. He struck out just over 30% of the batters he faced last season, using his mixture of pitches that he moves around the zone. His fastball comes in at 94.3 mph and usually begins the at-bat in the upper part of the zone. He balances that with a mix of three different off-speed pitches that usually work down in the zone, changing the batters eye level. This can leave them behind the eight ball and has led to Underwood's success striking out batters at the Big League level.
However, with that high fastball in his arsenal, it also leaves him susceptible to the home run ball. Underwood Jr. allowed five home runs in his 20.2 innings of work last season, for an HR/9 ratio of 2.18, the second-highest of his career. To make matters worse, when the ball was put in play against Underwood, it was usually hit hard as he had a hard hit percentage of 46.3% and an opponent batting average of .313. Over the course of his career, Underwood has been a groundball pitcher, with a career GB% of 44.9%, but last season opponents were starting to put the ball in the air more often. In 2020, he had a flyball percentage of 25.9% and a line drive percentage of 35.2%. With so much hard contact against Underwood, those balls ended up having carry on them and hurt the 26-year-old reliever.
On the positive side, Underwood has shown good control throughout his time in the Major Leagues. He had a walk rate last season of 6.9% and over his three-year career has only walked 7.7% of the batters he faced. With the ability to locate his pitches under his belt, Underwood Jr. has to focus on missing bats and using his pitches more effectively. He has a good change of speed, with a 10 mph difference between his fastball and breaking stuff, and that can help him fool opposing batters. If he can work on getting his fastball and sinker to work more down in the zone, it could go a long way to making him a successful reliever at PNC Park.
How He Fits Into 2021
For Duane Underwood Jr. there are a couple of ways the Pirates could use his services. He has worked both as a long-man and a starter in his career and has the ability to fill in at both of those positions. The Pirates have an opening as a fifth starter and several Openings in the bullpen. Once Underwood goes through all of his inbounding protocols, he should be thrown into the mix for both the fifth starter and bullpen spots. He has Major League experience but is looking to show he is better than his 5.20 ERA suggests. Underwood Jr. has no Minor League options remaining, so he will have to show the Pirates that he has what it takes to make the roster, or risk being put on waivers again.
Given his skill set and his history in the Major Leagues, it seems more likely that the Pirates would use Underwood Jr. in a bullpen situation. He hasn't been a full-time starter since 2018, doing most of his work out of the bullpen, even in the Minor Leagues. Another indication of this is the fact that the Pirates designated right-hander Carson Fulmer for assignment as part of the acquisition. While the Pirates lose a long-relief prospect in Fulmer, they add another in Underwood Jr. He will have to compete with guys like Chris Stratton and Cody Ponce for that swingman in the bullpen, and to do it he will have to prove himself in Spring Training.
Even though he has no Minor League options remaining, I don't see Underwood Jr. as a slam dunk to make the Pirates bullpen in 2021. His history in the Major Leagues has not been great, but at 26-years-old, he is young and controllable, which is something the Pirates like. If Underwood Jr. shows any hint of success in Spring, he should be a member of the Pirates bullpen. Even if it is a situation where he makes the club out of Spring Training, and is sent down a week later, that allows the Pirates to control him without having to put him on waivers. It is a nice depth addition to the Pirates, but the word is still out on whether or not Underwood Jr. performs for the Pirates.
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