Can Steven Brault see success as a starter in the short term?

The Pittsburgh Pirates will dip into their pitching depth when Steven Brault takes Joe Musgrove‘s place in the rotation. Can the young southpaw see success as a starter in the short-term?

Pittsburgh Pirates southpaw Steven Brault will step into Joe Musgrove’s intended shoes as he fills in for the new-yet-injured Pirates pitcher.

In every definition of the word, this is a short-term assignment. The organization wants to see what they have in Musgrove, and will perhaps feel more comfortable with Brault in the pen.

That does not mean that Brault’s time in the starting rotation won’t be successful. On the contrary, there is a lot to like about what Brault brings to the rotation as a left-handed pitcher — something the Pittsburgh Pirates have lacked in their rotation over the past season-plus. While the need for a left-handed starter is often overblown, they are nice to have. Brault’s stuff coming from the left-side complements the rest of the staff.

Change em up

Brault has a pretty well developed changeup that carries great separation. It now may play well with Brault as a starting pitcher as opposed to serving as a reliever. Over the 2016-2017 seasons combined, no Pittsburgh Pirates starter bested Brault’s changeup usage. Brault threw 9.95 percent changeups over that time span, tops among current Pirates pitchers.

That wrinkle alone might be enough to secure some level of success for Brault in his likely short stay in the rotation, provided his other pitches are working just as well. That has not always been the case with Brault, who carries an xwOBA (expected weighted on base average) of .363 on fastballs. His xwOBA on offspeed pitches is markedly better at .289.

Those are his overall numbers. Let’s take a look at how those pitches play by his role.

As a reliever, Brault’s offspeed stuff did not play well at all. His offerings — namely, his slider and change — clocked a .376 wOBA. That figure declined to a .309 figure on fastballs. Again, this is over 2016-2017 combined.

All things considered, Brault may provide just enough of a different look for the Pittsburgh Pirates as a starter to see success. Clearly, his offspeed stuff will play a bit better as a starter, and that alone should allow him to be serviceable for the club in Musgrove’s stead, with a chance to be better than serviceable in this short-term window.