Throughout his tenure as the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager, one thing Neal Huntington has always been able to do is assemble a quality bullpen.
Last season during the Pirates playoff run, the “Shark Tank,” was a weapon that Pirates manager Clint Hurdle could turn to at any time and would get quality results.
That hasn’t been the case so far this season, even though almost the entire bullpen is back from a season ago.
The Pirates bullpen was shaky at best in winning two of three games in Miami and has become a real cause for concern going forward.
From long man Jeanmar Gomez all the way to closer Jason Grilli and everyone in between, the Bucs bullpen has struggled. Even the usually reliable Tony Watson, who is having an All-Star caliber season, showed some chinks in the armor on Sunday, surrendering a two-run eighth inning lead, although Watson was hurt by some shabby defense.
When you compare the Shark Tank to that of a season ago, the signs are a bit alarming.
Last year the Pirates bullpen posted the third best ERA (2.89) in all of baseball. This season that number is up to 3.27 already. That’s not a bad ERA for a bullpen by any stretch of the imagination, but it shows that these guys haven’t been nearly effective.
That especially rings true in the back of the pen where the Bucs have blown a major league worst 13 saves already. Last year they blew 15 all season long.
While the Pirates are in pretty good shape right now in terms of the wild card standings, only 2.5 games out of the final wild card spot, if they convert even half of their blown saves they would be well over .500, leading the wild card chase and right in the thick of the division race.
Part of the problem with the bullpen and the easiest way to fix most of the problems is the starters need to go deeper into games more consistently.
So far the Pirates relievers have logged 226 innings already, the sixth highest mark in all of baseball. Of course the likes of Jeff Locke, Charlie Morton and Vance Worley did exactly that over the weekend and there were still problems at the back end of the pen.
At the end of the day though it is simply a matter of the relievers throwing strikes more consistently.
They aren’t getting hit that much harder. Last year the league hit .229 against them. This year they are allowing only a .234 batting average against.
But the walks are killing them.
In 2013 the Pirates 175 walks out of the bullpen was the 23rd lowest total in the league. This year they have already walked 86 batters, which amounts for the 10th highest total in all of baseball.
One thing is for sure and that is the Shark Tank is leaking and leaking bad.
For the Pirates to contend the rest of the way the bullpen must once again become a strength.
Whether it’s a July deadline trade or simply getting the current group fixed, Huntington must find a way to plug the holes and plug them soon.
Photo Credit: CBS Sports
