Cody Ponce Shines In Terrible Night For The Pirates
Last night was a night to forget for the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park when they welcomed in the Milwaukee Brewers. They were tagged for eight runs in the first two innings, and the offense never showed a spark as the Pirates fell 9-0. To make matters worse the Pirates ended up trading Tyler Anderson, the guy who was supposed to start last night's game, hours before. While the Anderson trade was on hold due to medical problems with one of the Phillies players, the Pirates ended up picking up their 62nd loss of the season. Even on a dark day at the park, there was one shining light that gave the Pirates something to look forward to.
Cody Ponce was newly called up from Triple-A Indianapolis to replace the traded Clay Holmes. Ponce entered the game in the fourth inning when the Pirates needed someone to keep the Brewers off the board. Ponce responded by throwing 5.0 scoreless innings, allowing three hits while walking one and striking out five. After three rough starts to begin his 2021 season, it was the outing he needed to get back on track in 2021. With Anderson still presumably being traded before Friday's deadline, there will be a spot opening in the Pirates rotation. Ponce is trying to make sure he wins that spot and can help the Pirates the rest of the way in 2021. Today, we look at Ponce's breakout outing and see how he can use it moving forward.
Getting The Job Done
When you enter the game in a blowout as a pitcher, your job is to throw strikes and get outs as quickly as you can. Throwing strikes is something Ponce has done a good job of throughout his career, with a 65% strike rate. So, when he entered the game on Tuesday night, with the Pirates trailing 8-0, Ponce was just trying to keep the Braves from scoring. He was also looking to get some of his own confidence back as he struggled in his first three outings of the season. Entering play on Tuesday night, Ponce had an 11.17 ERA and was charged for at least three earned runs in every outing so far. It was a far cry from what he was able to do last season, and he was trying to get back on track. He did just that, and in the process helped the Pirates out by eating some innings so that the Pirate's already overworked bullpen didn't get tagged for more innings than they had to.
After a bit of a shaky start in the fourth inning, where he allowed two men to reach with two outs, Ponce settled down from there and showed glimpses of what he was last season. He faced no more than three batters in an inning from the fifth inning on, scattering two hits and keeping the Brewers off the board. He was efficient throughout the outing, needing just 79 pitches to get through and throwing 63% of those pitches for strikes. It was a steady dose of both his cutter, slider, and curveball that was getting opponents out. He used the cutter and slider to set things up, and his curveball was used later in the at-bat for his out pitch. He looked strong throughout the night, staying in the mid-80s with his breaking stuff and low-90s with his fastball all the way through to his final inning of work. Even with his fastball not being as sharp as normal, he was able to turn to the breaking ball for outs when he needed them.
The biggest thing for Ponce in Tuesday's appearance was his efficiency, something that Pirates starting pitchers have lacked all season. After throwing 23 pitches to get through the fourth inning, Ponce settled down the rest of the way and did not throw more than 15 pitches in any of his remaining four innings of work. He had a swinging strike rate of 12.5% and faced just two over the minimum over his five innings of work. Pounding the strike zone is important for any starting pitcher, but getting those swings and misses is even more important as a measure of their stuff. With Tyler Anderson officially being traded late last night, Ponce now has an opportunity to become a consistent member of the starting rotation. Last night was a big step towards earning that role, and with the trade deadline approaching, he has a chance to take that role and run with it.
Ponce's Role Moving Forward
With the Trade Deadline just two days away, the Pittsburgh Pirates are one of the teams who will be going through a lot of changes. With Adam Frazier, Clay Holmes, and Tyler Anderson already traded, there are opportunities forming for young guys who are prepared to take advantage. One of those opportunities just opened up in the starting rotation following the Anderson trade. After Ponce's showing last night, combined with what he did last season, this could be a chance for him to establish himself. When he came to Pittsburgh, he said his career had gone static in the Milwaukee Brewers system, however, since joining the Pirates he has had movement between Triple-A and the Major Leagues going through some high highs and low lows during that time. However, he has shown good stuff throughout his time with the Pirates, he just needs to learn how to use it more consistently.
Overall, Ponce doesn't have blow-you-away style stuff, but he uses movement and deception as ways to get hitters out. His top pitch is his cutter, which comes in the low 90's and cuts in to right-handers and away from lefties. He counterbalances that with a devastating slider, which looks like the cutter until it breaks the complete opposite way. His out pitch is his curveball, which hits in the upper 70's and absolutely falls off the table to get batters swinging over top of it. His final pitch is a four-seam fastball that stays pretty straight but comes in between 90-94 mph. Ponce mixes his pitches pretty well, with his top three pitches being used 37%, 27%, and 23% of the time respectively. As long as he keeps mixing his pitches and changing speeds, he should have a good deal of success in the Major Leagues.
With guys like Steven Brault and Mitch Keller trying to make their way back to the Big Leagues, and Max Kranick, Miguel Yajure, Ponce, and several others fighting for a bullpen spot, competition is going to be tight in the Pirates rotation. After his strong showing last night, Ponce is hoping to grab the spot vacated by Anderson and prove he belongs in the Major Leagues. He pitched to a 3.18 ERA last season in five games, three starts, and after a bad start has some work to do to get his current 7.36 mark back down to last season's numbers. Look for a number of guys to get starts down the stretch, including Ponce, as the Pirates try to build their rotation for next season. I'm not prepared to say that Ponce will be a full-time starter from now through September, but look for him to get some opportunities to prove himself as the season goes on.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (38-62) look to bounce back in game two of their series with the Milwaukee Brewers (59-42) tonight at 7:05pm. The Pirates have yet to name their starter for tonight's game while the Brewers send Adrian Houser (6-5, 3.88) to the hill. 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.
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