Duane Underwood Jr. Turning Into Go-To Guy in Long Relief Situations

When the Pittsburgh Pirates have needed someone to come into the game and eat innings, Duane Underwood Jr. has been the one who has gotten the call. He is thriving in this new role and is bridging the gap to the back-end of the bullpen.

After two innings of yesterday's 5-2 win over the Miami Marlins, it was tired at 2-2, and Mitch Keller just started two runners after giving up a two-run single. He was due up third in the bottom of the second, but much to the surprise of fans it would be Chase De Jong that pinch hit for Keller. With Keller done after two innings of work, Derek Shelton went to the man he has been calling on in long situations as of late, Duane Underwood Jr. It has been just four days since Underwood Jr. last pitched on May 31st, but he came into the game looking for success. All in all, he ended up pitching 2.0 scoreless innings allowing two hits while walking one and striking out four.

This new role began for Underwood Jr. on May 19th when he came in to relieve Trevor Cahill after he suffered his calf injury. It has been a role that Underwood has held in the past, and he is thriving for the Pirates pitching to a 2.84 ERA. Throughout his Minor League career, Underwood came up through the Cubs system as a starting pitcher. He made 125 career Minor League starts over 160 career games, and didn't really change to a reliever until his days in Triple-A in 2018 and 2019. He was part of the Cubs bullpen when he broke into the Big Leagues and is now a key member of the Pirates bullpen. We look at Underwood's last five outings and what has clicked for him in this long-relief role.

Stretching Himself Out

Over his first 15 games of the season, Duane Underwood Jr. was used mostly as a middle relief pitcher. The most he had worked in any game prior to that May 19th outing was 2.0 innings a feat that he accomplished twice this season. However, in his career, he was known for going out and working multiple innings at a time. So, it may have been a surprise to Pirates fans to see Underwood come out so early on that May 19th game, but for Underwood, it was familiar territory. He didn't have much time to warm up and came out allowing a sacrifice fly and three straight singles. However, he would allow just one more hit the rest of the night and bridged the gap to the back-end of the bullpen.

After coming out in a one-inning situation his next time out, Underwood Jr. was once again called into long-relief action. This time, it was Wil Crowe who was ineffective, and Underwood Jr. capitalized with his best relief appearance of the year. This time he would come in once again in the bottom of the second, and got two quick outs to retire the side. He would only allow two more batters to reach the rest of the night, one single and one walk, and lowered his ERA to under 3.99. He struck out just two in the outing but was able to keep the ball low in the zone and force groundouts. He allowed two earned runs over three innings of work four days later, before entering in the third inning of last night's game.

When Keller went out of the game after just the second inning, you knew that Underwood Jr. was coming out of the bullpen. He entered for a clean inning for the first time in a while, and he would have to face the heart of the Marlins order. He responded by striking out Garret Cooper and former Pirate Corey Dickerson before walking Adam Duvall. He finished the inning with a strikeout of Jazz Chisolm Jr., finishing a scoreless inning. He got into trouble in the fourth when he allowed a single and a double to lead off the inning, but came back with a strikeout, a force-out, and a groundout to end the inning. He ended up going two scoreless, giving up two hits while walking one and striking out four. It lowered his ERA to 2.84 over his last five games as he is eating innings for a Pirates bullpen that has done a lot of work.

Little Adjustments Lead to Success

Not a lot changes for Underwood Jr. when he works in middle relief and when he works in long-relief, but slight adjustments make him more efficient. When we saw him working as a middle reliever, he would rely more on his four-seam fastball, which averages around 94-95 miles per hour. However, when he moves over to long-relief, he goes more with his sinker and his slider, which average 91 mph and 88 mph respectively. It lowers his velocity and takes away some of his strikeout abilities, but it increases his deception. Both pitchers have a lot of movement and cause batters to have to pick it up early if they hope to make contact.

Duane Underwood Jr.'s sinker averages 91 miles per hour and is one of the best in terms of movement in baseball. It features 21 inches of drop, which is 0.8 inches above average and has 14.5 inches of horizontal break. It is the pitch that generates the least extra-base hits, with opponents only picking up two against it, and has contributed to Underwood Jr.'s high ground ball rate. He has a career-high groundball rate of 40.2 this season, and that is due in large part to the effectiveness of his sinker. The other pitch he uses a lot in his long-relief efforts is his slider, which he has not allowed a hit on yet this season. Batters are swinging and missing half the time on the pitch as it becomes a bigger part of Underwood's game.

With Chris Stratton moving to more of a late-inning role for the Pirates this year, Duane Underwood Jr. has been the man who has stepped in as the long man. He has seemingly thrived in the new role, getting better as he goes deeper into the game. It has helped drop his season ERA back to under four to 3.93 and has seen him have better control. It also makes him a candidate to possibly get a spot start down the line if the Pirates need it. With Keller coming out of the game yesterday, and now being listed as day-to-day, the Pirates may be in need of a starter in five days. Miguel Yajure has been shut down from throwing in the Minor Leagues and Cody Ponce would be the next available option. However, if Keller's injury does not include an IL stint, Underwood could be an easy move to plug in as a starter in five days. Underwood Jr. has been a welcome addition to the 2021 Pirates and continues to show his value, pitching whenever the team needs him.

The Pittsburgh Pirates (22-34) keep it going with game three of their four-game series against the Miami Marlins (24-32) this afternoon at 4:05 pm. Chase De Jong (0-0, 1.80) makes his second Pirate start after a solid outing last time when he faces Trevor Rogers (6-3, 1.87) for the Marlins. You can watch the game live on AT&T Sportsnet, listen on 93.7 The Fan, or follow along with us on Twitter by following @Buccos_Cove.