Pittsburgh Pirates: Has The June Swoon Begun? And Other Takeaways From Being Swept In Milwaukee

Has Steven Brault found something?

I do not want to get my hopes up here. Mostly because Pirate fans have seen so much bad from Steven Brault the past few seasons. However, maybe he has found something?

In Sunday’s series finale Brault allowed 2 runs, the second of which scored after he exited the game, on five hits, three walks, and five strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings pitched. The 6 1/3 innings pitched was a new career high for Brault.

In his last five games, three of which have been starts, Brault has allowed 7 earned runs in 24 2/3 innings pitched. This comes out to a 2.55 ERA. In these 24 2/3 innings pitched he’s allowed 20 hits, just one home run, he’s walked 15, and struck out 16.

While you would like to see fewer walks, all in all these are solid numbers from Brault. Especially with him being the team’s fifth starter.

Brault changed his delivery in the offseason, so, perhaps, he’s just not getting fully comfortable with that. He also relied heavily on his fastball Sunday, throwing it 82% of the time. If Brault has found something that could make him capable of giving this team a start that gives them an opportunity to win every five days, that would be a welcome addition right now.