Pittsburgh Pirates: Offense Coming To Life & Other Takeaways From Series Loss vs Brewers

The bullpen needs help

It’s no secret that the Pirate pitching staff has been hit hard by injuries this season. Injuries have taken their toll on both the starting rotation and the bullpen. The bullpen injuries have shortened the length of the Pirate ‘pen.

Liriano, Kyle Crick, and Felipe Vazquez have all been excellent this season. Unfortunately, these three can not pitch every night. They also will not always be perfect. As we saw on Saturday when Vazquez and Liriano each allowed just their second home run of the season, when these three three are not perfect it is difficult for the Pirates to win close games.

The injuries to Keone Kela and Nick Burdi have hit this bullpen hard. So has the implosion of Richard Rodriguez. If Kela or Burdi were healthy, or Rodriguez was pitching effectively then the 6th inning on Saturday would have been handled much differently. The same goes for the top of the 9th inning on Thursday night when Rodriguez allowed 4 runs to put a game the Brewers led at the time 7-5 out of reach.

Reaching down to the minor leagues has not provided much relief, either. Alex McRae, Hartlieb, and Holmes have all been ineffective. After a strong start, Montana DuRapau ran into trouble before being optioned back to Triple-A. Dovydas Neverauskas and Michael Feliz? Yeah, no thanks.

The Pirate bullpen is in dire need of reinforcements. Rookie Davis is emerging as a guy who may be able to provide some reinforcement, but the ‘pen needs more than that. Hopefully, Kela’s shoulder will get healthy and Neal Huntington can work the trade market to find bullpen assistance.