Two starting pitchers had successful rehab starts for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday afternoon and appear ready to return to their respective starting rotations.
On Sunday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Pirates finished off a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres. In addition to this, two key starting pitchers in the organization made rehab starts on Sunday and both starts went well.
Pitching for the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians, Jordan Lyles was looking to take a step toward rejoining the Pirate starting rotation on Sunday afternoon. By all accounts, Lyles did just that.
Lyles pitched 5 1/3 innings for the Indians on Sunday afternoon. He allowed just 1 run on a pair of hits. The lone run he allowed came on a solo home run. He walked three batters and struck out seven. Lyles threw 84 pitches on Sunday, and 55 of them went for strikes.
After his strong start on Sunday, it would appear that Lyles next start will come at the MLB level. Look for Lyles to rejoin the Pirate rotation this upcoming weekend in Milwaukee. This could be a big boost for the Pirates as they play a vital series against their NL Central rivals.
In addition to Lyles, JT Brubaker made a rehab start for the short season West Virginia Black Bears of the New York Penn League. This was Brubaker’s second rehab start with West Virginia. After this start, he appears ready to return to the starting rotation at Triple-A.
Facing a former Pirate farm team – the State College Spikes – Brubaker allowed 1 unearned run in 4 innings of work on Sunday. He allowed three hits, walked three, struck out one, and he threw 60 pitches.
In two rehab starts with West Virginia Brubaker has allowed 1 earned run on five hits, four walks, and four strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings of work. While Brubaker has not made a start for Indy since April 24th, it would appear to be a safe bet to assume his next start will be for the Indians.