Much criticism has been given to the job that General Manager Neal Huntington has done with the Pirates since he took the position. A lot of it has been warranted, but one thing that you can’t criticize Huntington for is the job that he has done with building the bullpen. The Pirates ‘pen, or the aptly nicknamed Shark Tank, has been dominate once again this season. Much of the success can be directed towards Huntington and the moves he has made over the past few seasons.
Let’s take a look, shall we?
- Huntington trades Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett to the Nats for Lastings Milledge and future All-Star Joel Hanrahan
- Pirates acquire Evan Meek from the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2007 Rule 5 Draft and made him into an All-Star
- After being released from the Phillies, the Pirates sign journeyman Jason Grilli and convert him into their current closer who has gone 18/18 in save chances
- Huntington trades Hanrahan and Brock Holt to the Red Sox for Ivan DeJesus Jr., Jerry Sands, Stolmy Pimental and Mark Melancon
Think what you want about Huntington, but the job he has done to build up the bullpen over the past few years has been terrific. The noticeable trend is the the job the Pirates due with castoffs from other teams and the way they turn them into perennial All-Star or pitchers on the brink of reaching that feat. Meek went from a Rule 5 Draft player to being an All-Star in 2010. Hanrahan went from being a lesser-known setup man in Washington, to being the Pirates All-Star closer. Grilli, who battled injuries throughout his career, went from being a minor leaguer to leading baseball in saves.
Then you have Melancon. Melancon has pitched for the Yankees, Astros and Red Sox prior to his arrival in the Steel City, but he was nowhere near as dominate at his other stops as he has been this year. While Melancon told me moving from the big market of Boston to a smaller market like Pittsburgh had nothing to do with his success, he did say that he worked on a few things in spring training this season.
“I think in spring training, I got some good tips from Ray [Searage] and Jim Benedict. Just very subtle things that helped me understand my delivery a little bit,” Melancon said. “There were just a few tweaks that allowed me to free up my delivery that has created me to be able to locate down in the zone more frequently and consistently.”
Like many of the Pirates, Melancon credited the work that Searage has done as the pitching coach. Personally, I was a fan of the move when they announced he would be assuming the role. If you ask the leader of the Shark Tank, he’s one of the best pitching coaches out there.
“I’ve known Ray since he was with the Marlins. It’s just his demeanor and you can fool around with Ray and know when it’s time to do business with Ray,” Grilli said. “Just with anybody, I kind of line up with him that way. I like to goof around and have a good time, but I know when we’re getting down to business, it’s all about business. Get your work done and then we can go play again and have fun. Ray is a great pitching coach. I know a lot of guys have benefited from him being here, myself included.”
When I asked Grilli how he would divide up the credit between the pitchers, Huntington, Searage and Manager Clint Hurdle for building up their setup men and closers over the past few years, he kept turning back to his pitching coach.
“We deal strictly more so when you can say you can kind of get “clicky” because the pitching coach isn’t going to go give hitting tips to the hitters, you know? We go with our mentor so to speak and that’s the good thing,” Grilli said. “He’s not going to give you something if you’re having success. He’ll just keep you where you are and let you be. That’s a good pitching coach; one that knows what your strengths are, your keys and if you have to fine-tune something, you fine-tune it.”
And don’t doubt Searage for a minute. If something is off with one of his pitchers, he will fix it. Be it his delivery or mentality, Searage will identify the problem.
“In the big leagues, people will say ‘your mechanics are off.’ Well, at this level, if you don’t know what your mechanics are…that’s kind of a farce,” Grilli said. “It’s a way of saying there are a few things off and we are working on them. Ray is good at putting a finger on it and fine-tuning it to get you back on sync.”
For much of his career, it could have seemed if it was mechanics that kept Melancon from having the success that he has had this season. I mentioned his past struggles that he has had and he was very quick to point out that aside from a few games in his career, he’s the same pitcher that he is today.
“You say struggles and yeah, I had a few games last year that I struggled in, but if you go back and look at the consistency of my career and last year, you will see that I’m still the same pitcher,” Melancon said. “Take out a few games last year and I’m the same guy. My last half of the year last season is just like now. It’s not like I’m a completely different guy. I’m the same guy, same stuff.”
While the stats prove otherwise (19 ER in 29.2 IP in last year’s second half compared to just 2 ER in 25 IP this year), you have to like the confidence that Melancon has. He’s been there before and as Hurdle will say, he’s battle-tested.
“As he profiled him out, we felt he’d be the first candidate to give that [eighth inning] opportunity to based on experience. Mark’s been battle-tested,” Hurdle said. “He’s had some opportunities that haven’t ended well and has dealt with adversity. He’s had to persevere. Those have all worked to become strengths for him. He’s in a good place professionally and personally. It was all laid out where we were going to go with him and what the opportunities in front of him will provide.”
As a whole, the Pirates bullpen is a collective group of different individuals that are from another world, as Hurdle put it. While there is a mesh of personalities in the ‘pen, they all have the same collective goal.
“[Look] at the unselfishness of everyone out there and it’s been here since I’ve got here, even with the turnover in the bullpen. We will try to establish some parameters and roles, but at the end of the day, it’s get the ball to the closer,” Hurdle said. “It’s never not good to have guys that are unselfish and can buy in. I think they embrace the way we work the bullpen and rarely push the three-day button. It changes roles and gives guys out there different opportunities for different roles. You’re a seventh inning guy and here’s an eighth inning opportunity; what are you going to do with it?”
For the most part, thanks to Searage, Hurdle and Huntington, they’ve nailed it.
Photo Credits: CBS Sports
