Pittsburgh Pirates: 3 Takeaways From Series Loss Against The Cardinals

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PITTSBURGH, PA – SEPTEMBER 08: James Marvel #74 of the Pittsburgh Pirates delivers a pitch in the first inning of his major league debut against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park on September 8, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /

James Marvel has earned another start

Sunday afternoon, right-handed pitcher James Marvel made both his first MLB start and appearance for the Pirates. This outing was one that Marvel earned with an excellent season in the minors. In his first start, Marvel earned another outing with the Bucs.

Prior to joining the MLB club Marvel had made 28 starts between Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis. In these 28 starts he pitched 162 1/3 innings, posting a 2.94 ERA and a 3.56 FIP. He walked 7.0% of batters faced and his strikeout rate of 20.7% was a new career high.

Marvel’s strikeout rate was the most encouraging sign from him this season. It was a 4% increase over his strikeout rate from 2018, and a 3% increase over his career average.

In his MLB debut on Sunday afternoon Marvel started strong. He fired 4 scoreless innings to start his afternoon, before the Cardinals broke through for a run in the 5th inning. Marvel would pitch into the 6th inning before his day ended.

When it was all said and done Marvel held the likely National League Central Division Champions to be Cardinals to 2 runs in 5+ innings of work. He allowed just four hits, he did not surrender a long ball, he walked a pair of batters, and he struck out two.

With the Pirates out of contention they should be trying to get as long of a look as possible at young players that could help in 2020 and beyond. Marvel is one of these players. Due to the Pirates being out of contention and Marvel pitching well on Sunday, there is no reason for him to not get another start this month.

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