The Pittsburgh Pirates Must Be Creative With Their Bullpen

After watching his relief unit underachieve all season, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle may now have to get creative.

Taking a look at the numbers behind the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen is a daunting task.

One must navigate the eighth-worst ERA among relievers in the 15-team National League (4.18), the third highest line drive percentage (21.9 percent) and the worst contact rate as a unit in the National League at 79.8 percent.

Yes, the relief corps has been anything but elite this year, and it may force Clint Hurdle to be a little more creative than he traditionally is. Earlier in 2016, we saw that creativity peak out when Tony Watson made a handful of seventh inning appearances rather than his customer penultimate role.

The fact is, Hurdle’s best options remain in the back end. Neftali Feliz, Mark Melancon and Watson have been solid nearly all year. With a key piece in Jared Hughes struggling, Hurdle would be apt to go deeper into the well earlier, especially with Feliz.

Only two of Feliz’s 34 2016 appearances have come before the seventh inning. In his most recent effort against the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 24th, the rejuvenated right hander showed that he could handle a different role. Feliz needed 27 pitches to get through 1.2 innings, but did not look overly worn after his time was over. In fact, the outing can and should give Hurdle more faith that he does not necessarily need to go to a struggling Hughes in his customary spots.

The Pittsburgh Pirates might do well to do anything they can to bridge the gap between the front of the bullpen and the Watson/Melancon combo. Early returns on Juan Nicasio in the bullpen look good, and his efforts combined with a different workload for Feliz could easily bridge that gap. Hughes can then revert to even more of a specialist role than he has been in years previous. Hughes’ left on-base percentage is currently at 79.9 percent, a number far removed from his career high water-mark of 87.3 in 2014, but just a tick below last year’s figure of 81.7. Despite the drop from ’14 to ’15, Hughes was still an effective reliever last year. Limiting his exposure while he clearly does not have his best stuff could go a long way in shaping a better bullpen.

This Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen will never be confused with its more effective versions in years previous, but a little bit of creativity can easily hide its warts.

Featured Image Credit – Daniel Decker Photography