Bailey Falter in Familiar Rough Patch; What’s the Solution?
PITTSBURGH — Bailey Falter was one of the best pitchers in baseball in May, and that’s no hyperbole.
Falter ended May with a sparkling 0.76 ERA, which was the third-lowest among all qualified pitchers behind the Cincinnati Reds’ Andrew Abbott (0.55) Kris Bubic of the Kansas City Royals (0.56) during the month.
Additionally, his 0.76 ERA was the lowest ever by a Pirates’ pitcher in any month in the live ball era (since 1920).
But it’s been a different story since the calendar flipped to May, and Falter’s struggles continued in the Pirates’ 10-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox at PNC Park on Friday night.
Falter allowed four runs in four innings, three of which came in the opening frame. With two outs, Edgar Quero hit a solo shot to left field. Two batters later, Andrew Benintendi ripped an RBI double and scored on a Luis Robert Jr. single.
“Two quick outs and then fell behind Quero there, 3-1, and he got a hold of a fastball and hit it out. Then kind of spiraled on us,” manager Don Kelly said on Falter’s early struggles. “I think we just struggled getting ahead of guys tonight, and when you get behind, they can do some damage.”
Falter allowed his second home run of the night in the fourth inning, when Robert connected on a long home run to left field.
The Pirates’ starter fell to 6-5 on the season after allowing four runs in four innings pitched.
After his latest performance, Falter’s ERA reached 4.00 for the first time since he had a 4.02 ERA after a 3.2-inning start against the New York Mets on May 14.
Over his last eight starts dating back to his first outing last month, Falter has a 5.60 ERA and has allowed 10 home runs in 35.1 innings.
How does Falter get back on track? Kelly says he needs to get back to what works best for him.
“Continue to be committed to his fastball. Pitching in and pitching up is his go-to,” explained Kelly. “Finding ways to attack the strike zone, getting ahead. Makes it really tough as a pitcher whenever you’re behind in a count. We have to be ahead, and we’ve done a good job of that for most of the year.”
It’s an eerily similar spot to where he found himself last season.
In his first 11 starts of the 2024 season which spanned through the month of May, Falter had a 3.22 ERA. However, he posted a 5.42 ERA over his final 17 starts of the season and ended the year with a 4.43 mark.
While his struggles last season lasted the rest of the year, Falter is hoping he’s able to get back on track sooner rather than later, and not let his tough stretch linger.
“Just missing locations, honestly. Falling behind in counts and missing locations,” he said of his struggles. “Just haven’t been doing my job these past couple starts, so hopefully we can turn it around here soon.”
Falter is no stranger to navigating tough waters, and his mindset is simple as he hopes for better results his next time out.
“Just come back to work tomorrow ready to go.”
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