Chad Kuhl Turns in Best Start, Continues String of Success

Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Pirates scored their third win in a row and their second straight win over the Atlanta Braves. However, it was the start by Chad Kuhl that put the Pirates in a position to succeed as he turned in his best start of the season.

When you look at highlights from last night's 2-1 win over the Atlanta Braves, the walk-off will dominate the highlights. Bryan Reynolds stepped in with no outs and the bases loaded and was able to work the walk-off walk to give the Pirates a 2-1 win. Maybe you will see Rodolfo Castro's leadoff walk or Reynold's sacrifice fly, but one thing you won't see is the real key to victory for the Pirates. It came way before the drama of the ninth inning when Chad Kuhl took the mound at the start of the game. Kuhl was nearly flawless going 6.0 innings of one-run ball while striking out a season-high seven batters. It has been a part of a string of starts where the right-hander has gotten back on track and shown why he was named as the Opening Day starter.

Over his last four starts, Kuhl has now gone 2-1 with an impressive 2.45 ERA spanning 22.1 innings of work. He has lasted 6.0 innings in three of those four starts while walking seven and striking out 19 batters during that stretch. The run has also done wonders for his overall numbers, as he has dropped his ERA by almost two full points and is showing that he can still be a quality Major League Starting pitcher. The Pirates starting staff came into this season needing a leader and so far no one had been able to take the reigns. Today, we look at Kuhl's current hot stretch to see if he can be the guy to lead this rotation through the second half of the 2021 season.

Mowing Down the Competition

When Chad Kuhl came to the show in 2016, he never had things very easy. Right from the get-go, he had to face Clayton Kershaw on Sunday night baseball in his MLB debut. He went toe-to-toe with the future Hall of Famer, and his team rewarded him with his first Major League win. Ever since then, he has gone through highs and lows, suffering Tommy John surgery in 2018 and bouncing back with a strong 2020 campaign. However, last night was one of the best performances for Kuhl not only this season but for his career. He went 6.0 innings of one-run ball and struck out seven without walking a batter in the 2-1 walk-off win. He ended the day on 97 pitches and was pounding the strike zone throughout the night with a strike rate of 62% of the evening.

One thing his current stretch has shown us just how far he has come since making that Opening Day start against the Cubs. Kuhl's biggest problem at the beginning of the year was his first-inning struggles. Overall, he has a 9.00 ERA in the first inning of games and has allowed an opponent batting average of .286. However, since his return from the Injured List in June, Kuhl has been much better to start off games, leading to more success. Since coming off the Injured List, he has dropped his first-inning ERA to 3.86 in the month of June and start of July and his opponent batting average has gone down to .231. Both of these numbers show progress and are signs that Kuhl is starting to turn the corner.

Over his last four starts, Kuhl is showing the leadership qualities the team hoped to get from him early in the year. The thing that was working so well for Kuhl last night was his ability to pound the strike zone. When he went down on his rehab assignment in Triple-A Indianapolis, he worked on some things with pitching coach Joel Hanrahan that have seemingly worked out. Since his return, his walk-to-strikeout ratio has improved as he has walked 12 batters while striking out 23. Compare that to the beginning of the year wherein his first five starts he walked 16 and struck out 19 over that span. With Kuhl attacking the strike zone more consistently, we may finally see the Kuhl that was beginning to emerge before he underwent Tommy John Surgery.

Kuhl Moving Forward

At the beginning of the season, Chad Kuhl was one of the Pirate's big trade chips that had the chance of moving. However, his value has diminished because of his poor start, and this may lead the Pirates to keep the 28-year-old. The Pirates still have two years of control over Kuhl, as he is set to become a free agent following the 2023 season. Much like Adam Frazier, both players have the same control, but Frazier's trade value is significantly higher than Kuhl's. While Kuhl is probably not a part of the rotation of the future, he will most likely still be in the rotation by the end of the season. He is a guy, the Pirates could wait on to see if his value would increase in the off-season and then look to trade him at next year's trade deadline.

In the meantime, there are still some things for Kuhl to work on that would help raise his value. The biggest thing for Chad Kuhl is making sure that he gets out of the first inning. His first-inning ERA this season is 9.00. After the first, that ERA drops to 3.27 in the second and an even better 1.64 in the third. Yesterday was a statement game for Kuhl as he faced the best lineup he has had to go up against this season. With Ronald Acuna Jr., Freddie Freeman, and Ozzie Albies all hitting in the first inning, it wasn't going to be easy for Kuhl. However, he was able to retire the side in order and show that he is taking a step forward with his first-inning struggles.

As for the rest of the season, I think we are going to see a pretty middle-of-the-road Chad Kuhl. Kuhl doesn't have that top-notch stuff, and he is going to give up his share of runs. However, if he can continue to attack the strike zone consistently, he will be able to battle and give his team a chance to win night in and night out. Being that he now sits at 2-5 at the all-star break, I could see Kuhl finishing the year right around an 8-9 record with a mid to upper fours ERA. The more that Kuhl stays in the strike zone the more success he could have. The Pirates need Kuhl to be a more consistent guy if they want success moving forward, and I think he will be able to do that through the rest of the season.

The Pittsburgh Pirates (32-53) look for the sweep this afternoon when they take on the Atlanta Braves (41-44) at 12:35 pm. Wil Crowe (1-5, 6.26) looks to bounce back after a rough outing last time when he takes the hill against Drew Smyly (6-3, 4.42) for the Braves. You can watch the game live on AT&T Sportsnet or listen on 100.1 FM of News Radio 1020AM.

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