Don Kelly's Carmen Mlodzkinski usage called into question, but Pirates fans shouldn't worry

The Pirates bullpen has shown some signs of life lately. Whether it be Mason Montgomery, Gregory Soto, Isaac Mattison or even Dennis Santana, this group seems to have gotten the message after a dreadful start to the season.

Just last week, the Pirates ranked 21st in bullpen ERA. Now they're 18th. Again, these are small steps, but the Pirates will take any progress they can get in that department.

Arguably the most intriguing piece in the Pittsburgh 'pen is Carmen Mlodzinski. The former starting pitcher turned middle-inning reliever has struggled to acclimate to his new role. However, his past couple of outings have been promising. In five innings against the Mariners and Rockies, Mlodzinski has given up just three hits and no runs. That's the kind of production Don Kelly was hoping for when he moved Mlod to the bullpen in the first place.

Even still, Pirates fans have their complaints about Mlodzinski's usage.

Why are Pirates fans upset about Carmen Mlodzinski?

Why is any fanbase upset about anything? Sure, Mlodzinski has been better of late, but his usage isn't perfect, as pointed out by Dan Zangrilli after the Pirates win over Seattle on Wednesday.

As solid as Mlodzinski has been in his last two starts, they weren't exactly high-leverage. Against the Mariners, he was asked to close out a game that was already well in hand. He took the bump with a 5-1 lead, and the Pirates offense kept pouring on runs. In Colorado, Mlodzinski gave the Pirates every opportunity to overcome an early two-run deficit. They failed to do so, scoring just one run.

Even so, that's not the same as, say, setting up Soto in the ninth inning against elite competition. The Rockies are a bad baseball team, which makes the Pirates series defeat in Denver all the worse and Mlodzinski's usage more confusing.

How should the Pirates be using Carmen Mlodzinski?

In the end, Pirates fans shouldn't be all that concerned with how Kelly is using Mlodzinski these days. The bullpen has performed better of late, which puts less pressure on one player, especially a pitcher used to starting games, to play the role of savior. In the two starts prior to Mlodzinski's recent string of success, he gave up 10 runs (five earned) against the Athletics and Dodgers.

To that end, putting Mlodzinski in lower-leverage situations to help rebuild his confidence is actually a smart maneuver by Kelly. As long as he's not losing production from the rest of his bullpen, simultaneously getting Mlodzinski back on track is in the Pirates best interest.

More importantly, as Kelly pointed out postgame, Mlodzinski's pitch count isn't a real concern at this point in the season. Sure, his pitch count was over 50 thanks to his third inning of work against Seattle on Wednesday, but as a former starting pitcher, that shouldn't limit him from pitching over the weekend should the Pirates need him.

Kelly may be a classic overthinker, but his tinkering isn't hurting Mlodzinski as much as the fanbase assumes. As long as the Pirates bullpen continues to improve on the back end, they won't need to rely as heavily on Mlodzinski anyway.

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