Edinson Volquez made positive strides ahead of his start on Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals with a scoreless relief appearance against the Cubs on Thurdsay. The righty that was signed via free agency over the offseason didn’t have the spring that Pirate management and fans hoped as he posted a 0-3 record with a 9.64 ERA in 14 spring training innings.
Volquez made his first official Pirates appearance in the seventh inning of Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the Cubs. He threw two scoreless innings while only allowing a hit and striking out two.
It was fairly new territory for Volquez as he had only played in a relief role only six other times in his career.
“It was different,” said Volquez. “It’s a big difference because I was waiting a bit longer and came out of the bullpen as the fourth or fifth guy. It was also different because I need more time to get ready in the bullpen.”
It was a positive sign for manager Clint Hurdle, who compared the outing to an “aggressive bullpen session”. Volquez was scheduled to throw a bullpen session that day, but used the outing as one instead.
“I thought it’s another step forward for him,” said Hurdle. “Might be as good as he’s looked. He had an outing in Ft. Lauderdale that started out slow and picked up momentum in the end the last three innings. He finished very strong today and I felt it was very efficient. There was good bite to the curveball, he threw some good changeups, threw some good two-seemers and he elevated the four-seemer when he wanted to. Very solid delivery. Again, another confidence builder for him.”
It is confidence that Volquez thinks could help turn the tables in his favor.
“I didn’t throw too many pitches today, so I’m able to pitch again,” said Volquez. “Now that I’ve touched it, there is going to be a lot of confidence when I start again.”
He will get that shot against Adam Wainwright on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park.
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(Photo Credit: Gene J. Puskar)
