Managing burgeoning arms and potential innings limits forces the Pittsburgh Pirates to deploy three long relievers.
The Pittsburgh Pirates believe a young starting rotation is their strength, and it would be hard to argue that point. Yet there is some fragility to youth pitching.
Of those young arms, three will have their innings closely monitored this season, if not strictly limited.
All governors are off, Paul Skenes. He is still just 23 years old. Skenes has the body and mindset of a workhorse. He could surpass the 187 2/3 innings he pitched last season while winning the National League Cy Young Award.
Mitch Keller, who will turn 30 soon, also stands out as an innings eater. He pitched 176 1/3 innings last year and has averaged 182 2/3 over the past three seasons.
However, the Pirates must monitor the workloads of Carmen Mlodzinski, Braxton Ashcraft, and rookie Bubba Chandler.
Mlodzinski is transitioning from relieving to starting for the second straight season. Last year, he pitched a career-high 114 1/3 innings between the major leagues and Triple-A. It would be reasonable to think the 27-year-old’s innings limit this season would be around 150.
The limit might be just a bit higher for Ashcraft, 26. Last season, he logged a career-high 118 innings and made his major-league debut after starting the year at Triple-A. Pittsburgh introduced him conservatively, using him as an opener and a bulk reliever until late in the season.
Chandler’s usage last season was like that of Ashcraft, and he threw 131 1/3 innings. Even though the 23-year-old is ranked as the game’s No. 15 prospect by Baseball America, the Pirates will keep a close watch on his innings.
This is why Pittsburgh is carrying three long relievers: rookie left-hander Hunter Barco and veteran Jose Urquidy, both starters in spring training who can each pitch four or five innings, and journeyman right-hander Yohan Ramirez, who also handles multiple-inning relief. The season opens Thursday against the Mets in New York.
The Pirates plan to break Barco into the major leagues using him primarily as a bulk or long reliever, similar to the approach taken with Ashcroft.
I think probably a combination of things we're looking to do with the pitching staff to start the season,” Pittsburgh general manager Ben Cherington told reporters on the last day of spring training in Bradenton, Fla. “One, put (manager Don Kelly) in the best position to make decisions, win games, and give him as many options as possible.
“Two, starters, at this point in the season, aren't fully built up to their volume (of pitches) that they will get to as we get into the season. So, make sure we have enough length options for the staff. And then probably the third thing is you always want to protect as much (pitching) depth as possible coming out of spring training for the length of the season. So, we feel good about how we're starting the season."
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