Through the first 39 games, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen has seemed to lose its bite.
A bullpen that was one of the baseball’s best last season, is good enough for 24th out of 30 teams so far this spring. Currently, members of the bullpen are giving up nearly a hit per inning and have an ERA of 4.46.
Jared Hughes solidified his status last season as a key member of the bullpen that took Major League baseball by storm. Hughes has not been the one to blame for the bullpen woes this season, however. After returning from a stint on the disabled list, the right-handed reliever is on an upward trend to get back to mid-season form.
Rough start- the first four appearances
After suffering a lat injury in spring training, Hughes rejoined the Pirates May 1st in Cincinnati. He gave up a run in three out of his first four games back from the DL. In those appearances, Hughes struggled to find control, walking five hitters. The sinker-throwing right hander only managed one strikeout in those first four appearances as well.
As a result of his lack of command, Hughes’ strand rate suffered when it came to runners he inherited or allowed on base. In the three games Hughes allowed a run, his strand rates were 50, 50, and 75 percent respectively. Not numbers you want to see out of a mid-game reliever, but lots of room for improvement for a guy who’s proven himself to be a quality Major League reliever who excels at stranding runners.
The downfall of only appearing in nine games, Hughes’ stats are largely inflated as a result of poor showings in his first four games. On the season, Hughes has faced 40 total hitters, 21 of those hitters were faced in his first four appearances while only 19 have been seen in his last five.
Upward trend-last five appearances
While the numbers Hughes was putting up when he came back were not as good as the Pittsburgh Pirates or fans would have liked, the numbers continue to go back to career averages with each appearance.
Over the course of Hughes’ last five appearances, including Wednesday night against the Braves, he has yet to surrender a run while only allowing two walks in those four games. Hughes has also scattered four hits over those four appearances while stranding each runner inherited or put on base.
While his walk rate has gone down, his strike out rate has gone up and that is a very promising sign for the 30-year old reliever.
Since his rough start, Hughes has brought his ERA down to 2.25, good enough for best among relievers on the Pirates’ staff.
Small sample size
The numbers Hughes has put forth so far only tell a small sample of what is to come for the right-handed reliever. Only nine games into the season, Hughes seems to be back on track to his normal ground-ball out self and that’s great news for a Pirates bullpen searching for answers early on this season. As the weather herts up and starters go deeper into games, having Hughes as an effective reliever out of the bullpen will pay huge dividends during the summer and fall should the Pirates remain in contention.
When Hughes has hitters pounding his sinker into the ground, he is most effective. As long as the sinker plays, and Hughes utilizes his slider to keep hitters off-balance, good things should happen.
If Hughes continues to get better with each outing, he helps solidify a back end of a bullpen that has been ridiculously effective over the past few seasons. As the season unfolds, and Hughes remains healthy, there should be no reason why the Pittsburgh Pirates won’t go to Jared when they need an out or to get out of a jam.
Photo Credit – Daniel Decker Photography
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