Our 40 in 40 series, which take a look at each player on the 40 man roster for the Pittsburgh Pirates, continues today with a look at right-handed reliever Kyle Crick.
Newly acquired relief pitcher Crick may not end up being the most popular Pirates player due to the fact that he was acquired in the trade that sent Andrew McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants, but make no mistake about it, Crick has the stuff to be very good in the back end of the Bucs pen.
Crick, a former first-round pick of the Giants was rated San Francisco’s top prospect in both 2012 and 2103, but he never put things together as a starter.
The Giants took Crick with a supplemental first-rounder in 2010, three spots behind new Pirates starter Joe Musgrove.
Once the Giants converted him to a reliever, he started to put things together. Behind a blazing fastball, Crick posted a 3.06 ERA, 28 strikeouts and 17 walks in 32.1 innings with the Giants.
Before his call-up in July, he also put up solid numbers in Triple-A with a 2.76 ERA with 39 strikeouts against 13 walks in 29.1 innings.
Crick is a promising young arm, but will he realize his potential in Pittsburgh?
The Stuff
Crick has the stuff to be very good. Needless to say he has a live arm and that’s what Pirates’ general manager Neal Huntington targeted this offseason.
His fastball touches 96 MPH and he throws five pitches, which dates back to his days as a starter.
Last season Crick mostly attacked hitters with his fastball and many of them had a hard time squaring it up.
He also has an arsenal of breaking pitches. He was rated as having the best curveball in the Giants system in 2013.
He’s shown signs of dominance, like in July last year when he held opposing hitters to a .191 batting average, in 21 scoreless innings. However Crick has had control issues in the past so that needs to be corrected heading into the season.
Crick can come after hitters in many ways, but most of the time it will be with the heater, as long as he knows where it is going, he should be fine.
One positive for him being in Pittsburgh is that George Kontos is here as Kontos took Crick under his wing when they were both members of the Giants.
What Role?
By all indications, Crick should make the team out of spring training.
But what role will he pitch in?
Huntington reworked his bullpen by bringing in a bunch of guys that can bring it so just because Crick has an explosive fastball, that doesn’t guarantee him a high-leverage role.
Felipe Rivero will close and it looks like Kontos and newly acquired Michael Feliz will hold down the seventh and eighth innings.
With Tyler Glasnow, Steven Brault, Rule 5 pick Jordan Milbrath and others vying for bullpen spots, Crick has to be good in camp to make the team.
I still think he will, but he will likely be used in the sixth or seventh innings when ahead and Huntington also indicated that Crick could be a multi-inning guy as well. That means he could be used a lot when the team is behind.
That’s not a bad thing. It will give Crick some work and by the end of the season I can see him working into a role late in games.
I like what Huntington has done to the bullpen and Crick is no exception as he could play a big role not only on the 2018 Pirates team, but in years down the road as well.
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