Pittsburgh Pirates: Four Forgotten Opening Day Starters

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CHICAGO – MAY 27: Kevin Correia #29 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches against the Chicago Cubs on May 27, 2011 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. The Pirates defeated the Cubs 4-2. (Photo by Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

2011: Kevin Correia

You don’t have to go far back to find another forgotten Pirates’ Opening Day pitcher and forgotten All-Star. The Pirates picked up Kevin Correia as a free agent during the 2010-2011 offseason. Despite having an ERA over 5 and fWAR just barely above replacement level at 0.1 in the season prior before the Bucs picked him up, he was given the Opening Day nod anyway, mainly because the 2010 Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t have any really better pitchers returning from their 105 loss season.

Despite his lackluster results the prior season Corriea’s Opening Day start saw him pitch 6 innings, allowing just a single run on 7 hits and a walk. He also struck out 3 batters. Corriea made the 2011 All-Star Game after having a very solid 3.74 ERA and 1.23 WHIP through his first 113 innings of 2011, albeit with a much less pretty 4.23 FIP and 12.3% strikeout rate.

The second half of the season was a rough one for Corriea, just like for the rest of the team. He only pitched 37.1 innings from July 17th onward and gave up 30 earned runs. He put up a K/BB ratio of 18/13 while giving up 10 home runs. The deal Corriea signed was a two-year deal and he returned to Pittsburgh in 2012 where he had a 4.21 ERA, 4.43 FIP and 1.29 WHIP through 171 innings with the Bucs.

After 2012, Correia spent the next three MLB seasons with the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. Though he never reached his height like when he was with the Bucs again in his career, he ended up playing in a total of 13 MLB seasons.

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