Pittsburgh Pirates Bullpen Great Now, Could Get Better Too

February 17, 2013; Bradenton, FL, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher

(69) poses for photo day at Pirate City. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

The Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen has been lights out for most of 2013.  You know the story well by now.  You also know that Vic Black and Duke Welker give the Bucs some talent for the future as well.

But a pitcher that could step into the bullpen immediately should someone falter is Ryan Reid.  If we told you about a Pittsburgh Pirates reliever that has given up  just two earned runs this year, you might think of Jason Grilli or Mark Melancon, but that’s what Reid has done at Triple A Indianapolis.  Both of the runs were on solo homers.

Another Team Neal Huntington reliever pickup, Reid has impressed while pitching in the Indianapolis Indians bullpen.  The right-hander pitched last spring with the Tampa Bay Rays. The 5’11” James Madison alum pitched 12 innings, gave up 13 hits and struck out 11 while chalking up saves in both of his opportunities.

While pitching for Durham at the Triple-A level in 2012, Reid recorded 79.1 innings and gave up 75 hits while striking out 79 and walking 28. The numbers looked even better when you see that Reid limited the opposition to 31 earned runs. The strikeout numbers peaked for Reid in 2008 when in 77.1 innings he recorded 98K’s. But in 2009 and 2010 when he repeated Double-A, his whiffs fell off.

The frequency of the strikeouts returned in 2011 and returned to a strikeout per inning last season.

But the success Reid has had on the mound this year is really impressive.  In his last 18 innings, Reid has given up an earned run and just nine hits.

Of course the discussion of bullpen usuage is at a fever pitch in discussions of the Pirates, with Reid and even Jared Hughes pitching well at Indy rest assured the Bucs have some help waiting in the wings.

Check out his numbers here:

Reid talks about spending some of the winter in Venezuela working on his two seamer. Reid was named to the Venezuelan Winter League All-Star team after his impressive numbers with Zulia. The 5’11” righty posted a 2.05 ERA, a 26-7 strikeout to walk rate in 22 innings pitched and eight saves.

The 28 year old talks about playing in Indianapolis against the Bucs Triple-A team in the video below.

You can also see some video from his impressive work in Spring Training.