COLUMN: The Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen needs Juan NIcasio

The Pittsburgh Pirates may need to put Juan Nicasio back in the bullpen to maximize his effectiveness.

Following an eye-turning spring training, the Pittsburgh Pirates had no choice but to insert Juan Nicasio into the starting rotation.

That was the right call then, and it still is. Though Nicasio’s luster took a hit after a poor showing in his second outing, the starting pitching staff could still find great use for a strikeout pitcher to go along with Gerrit Cole and Francisco Liriano. Though Jon Niese and Jeff Locke showed decent strikeout ability in their starts thus far, they are notorious pitch-to-contact hitters.  Inserting a pitcher with Nicasio’s stuff into the mix can keep opposing hitters off-balance in game-to-game scenarios.

Despite all of that, it may be the bullpen that needs him the most.

The Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen currently sits with a 4.91 ERA, a number that is surely not indicative of their overall talent . Indeed, Mark Melancon, Neftali Feliz and, yes, Tony Watson have all been solid this year (I’m giving Watson the well-earned benefit of the doubt regarding his last outing). Feliz in particular has been a revelation. ERA is an imperfect stat for relief pitchers, especially 10 games into the season.

No, the issues with the Pirates relievers are seen with their early options.  Here’s a snapshot look at the entire bullpen’s performance thus far.

Going into the 2016 season, many would point to the Pirates bullpen as a razor-sharp weapon that the team would use to its full capacity to close out wins for a somewhat-suspect starting rotation. It would also protect against a team that may be going through growing pains in the plate as it adopts a new approach.

Thus far on the young season, that has simply not happened.

Enter Juan Nicasio.

The common thread in Nicasio’s two starts, regardless of outcome, is that hitters can figure out his fastball. Nicasio’s preferred strikeout pitch is his slider, but the heat sets it up. In the opposing team’s second time through the order in his two starts, they hit the fastball at a .375 clip and slug the slider at a .667 rate. With a fastball that isn’t working, Nicasio goes to the earlier in counts, allowing teams to sit and wait on it.

Put simply, Nicasio’s best pitch loses its effectiveness when teams can get to the fastball later in games.

So then why not put Nicasio back in the bullpen? In doing so you would be playing to his strengths, and would give yourself another much-needed weapon 2-3 times per week rather than taking him down off the shelf every five days. To be fair, Ryan Vogelsong does not inspire an incredible amount of confidence as a likely replacement option. Vogelsong did lose the job to Nicasio to begin with. Now that the mania of Nicasio’s spring has died down, an objective look at Nicasio’s history can be had.

In his career, Nicasio has thrown 371.1 innings as a starter, against 77 as a reliever. Though most of his numbers are similar across the board, the young hurler averages 2.5 (9.5 k/9) more strikeouts per nine as a reliever. Swing and miss stuff is at a premium in bullpens around all of baseball, and with the Pirates in particular.

That figure, coupled with the ineffectiveness of current middle relievers for the Pittsburgh Pirates, paints a much better picture if Juan Nicasio comes out of the bullpen.