Inexperienced Pitching Shining In Early Part of Spring Training

As the Pittsburgh Pirates enter the 2021 season, they don't have many experienced pitchers on their roster. However, those pitchers are leading the charge and are tied for the lowest ERA this spring.

Looking at the Pittsburgh Pirates 2021 roster, there isn't a lot of experience on their pitching staff. Chad Kuhl and Tyler Anderson are the only starters to pitch for a full season in a starting rotation, and many of the bullpen guys are young guys with just one or two years of experience. While you would like to see some more experience on the team, sometimes young and hungry players can make the difference. So far, that formula has been working for the Pirates as their pitching staff is among the best in Major League Baseball at the start of Spring Training. Over the last two games, they have allowed just two earned runs and are starting to show their potential.

The Pirate's pitching staff is turning heads league-wide and showing it in the stat line. entering play on March 10th, the Pirates are tied for the lowest ERA in baseball with a 2.91 ERA. Pitching coach Oscar Marin has implemented a brand-new pitching program tailored to each pitcher specifically and it is now fully implemented in his first full season. The top performers for the Pirates have been the projected aces of the staff Chad Kuhl and Steven Brault. If the Pirates have any chance of playing competitive baseball games this season, it will be on the backs of their pitching staff. Today, we look at their early spring performances and see how that transitions into the regular season.

Young and Hungry

The thing with having a young team is that they can be hungry to succeed. With the pitching staff, General Manager Ben Cherrington has done a nice job of sprinkling in some veterans to help tutor the young guys. Chase Shreve and Tyler Anderson are the only pitchers over the age of 30 and can help these young pitchers coming along. Through their first eight spring training games, the pitching staff has allowed more than four runs only twice and has been under three runs allowed in all but three of those eight games. A lot of their success has been because of the work of new pitching coach Oscar Marin and a chance to have a full spring training.

In a recent interview with Jason Mackey of the Trib, reliever Geoff Hartlieb gave an example of how this new system works. Hartlieb has had two different seasons in his Major League career, with two very different results. During his rookie season in 2019, Hartlieb went 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA over 35 innings of work while working under Ray Searage. However, in 2020, under Oscar Marin, he bounced back nicely pitching to a 3.63 ERA over 22.1 innings of work. Hartlieb said that the biggest difference has been the use of analytics to help him on the mound. He went from trying to add a cutter, change-up, and four-seam fastball to his arsenal, to stick with his two best pitches, his slider, and his sinker. The results speak for themselves in the stat line.

The use of analytics has seemed to help turn around other pitchers on the Pirates staff and has gotten the best out of them. Steven Brault put together one of his best seasons at the MLB level last season, especially in the final month of the season. It all started with his first career complete game on September 17th against the St. Louis Cardinals. It was on that day that Brault decided to change his mindset to becoming a "freaking throwing machine." He stuck with his best pitch, the fastball, and was able to consistently throw it for strikes. He only allowed one run over his final two starts and went 1-0 in those starts. These are results that he can take into 2021 and help lead this Pirates pitching staff.

Using The Stats To Get Better

The biggest thing for this year's Pirates pitching staff is going to be to continue to develop. These guys represent the future of the Pirates and they are essential to bringing back a winning team to Pittsburgh. With Oscar Marin leading the way this spring, the Pirates have already made great strides and they look to continue their progress. They are tied for the Major League's lowest ERA at 2.91 this Spring Training and have seen some young guys step up. As of late, David Bednar, Miguel Yajure, and Wil Crowe have really shown they want a spot on the Opening Day roster. It is still early, but they are separating themselves from the pack.

Crowe's success came against the Philadelphia Phillies on March 5th, when he threw two scoreless innings. He allowed just two hits and struck out one while lowering his opponent's batting average to .182 this spring. He did not get into a three-ball count all afternoon, and was efficient and kept the ball on the ground. He is fighting for the fifth spot in the Pirates rotation and took a step in the right direction towards doing that last time out. Bednar has been an unhittable pitcher out of the bullpen and has struck out seven batters during his first three Spring Training appearances. He is looking to lock down a spot in the bullpen and help the Pirates win some more games this season.

In order for the Pirates to be competitive in 2021, their pitching staff is going to have to be elite. While they probably won't live up to that elite status, they are taking strides to become a formidable pitching staff of the future. And it's not just the projected aces, but the young guys as well. Miguel Yajure was on fire last time out not allowing a hit over two innings of work. These are all parts of the future for the Pirates and with those pitchers heading in the right direction, the path to success becomes shorter. Even though it is just eight games into the season, it is the little successes that can mean the most to creating a winning team.