Inside Bailey Falter’s Dominant Month of May

PITTSBURGH — Bailey Falter might not be the first starting pitcher that comes to mind when thinking of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ rotation.

But in a five-man group that’s headlined by a generational talent in Paul Skenes, Falter has been the team’s best starting pitcher this month.

Falter continued his May dominance by throwing 7.0-shutout innings in the Pirates’ 1-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park on Tuesday night.

“It feels great. Mechanics, I feel, are in a great spot,” Falter said. “We had the heater today, and then the splitter or kick-change, whatever you want to call it. Lots of big outs for me with that pitch, especially not having feel for the curveball. A couple of good sliders in there as well.

“But these guys played their asses off behind me. You guys all know, I like to get my infielders and outfielders involved as much as possible. Wouldn’t be able to do it without them, especially Joey (Bart), who called a great game. We were on the same page all night.”

Falter only found himself in hot water twice in Tuesday’s win. He easily navigated around TJ Friedl’s leadoff triple in the first and again wiggled out of a threat when Santiago Espinal led off the fourth with a double.

Falter scatted four hits, didn’t issue a walk, struck out five and needed only 79 pitches to get through his outing.

“He was electric,” manager Don Kelly said on Falter. “His fastball exploding through the zone, command on both sides of the plate and pitching in. Just the way Joey was able to mix in the offspeed there and then go back to the fastball and Bailey just stuck right where Joey wanted it on the inside lane, especially. To have it open up like that and be able to throw a slider and a split, he did a great job.”

Falter is up to 16.2-consecutive scoreless innings after his most recent start. Though he only lasted 3.2 innings in New York last week, Falter held the Mets scoreless. He also tossed 6.0-shutout frames against the Braves in Pittsburgh on May 9.

Through four starts this month, Falter has a sparkling 0.38 ERA (1er/23.2ip). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he’s one of seven Pirates pitchers since at least 1893 with 23.2-plus innings and one or zero runs allowed in a four-start span within a single season and the first since J.A. Happ in 2015.

Falter said that he’s just doing what he gets paid to do.

“I’ve got a job to do every five or six days, so I just try to go out there, compete my ass off and do the best I can to get these guys back in the dugout and score some runs.”

Part of Falter’s success this month is because three of his four starts have come at PNC Park.

It’s a place where Falter excels. Through five starts at home this season, he now has a 2.32 ERA. He’s allowed one run in 20.0 innings pitched in Pittsburgh in May.

“I love pitching here. It’s awesome,” Falter explained. “I feel like the field plays very well to my weapons. I’ve enjoyed it so far. I’m just gonna try to carry that out to the road, honestly.”

The Pirates’ starting staff has been clicking. Over their last 14 games since May 5 in St. Louis, the rotation has combined for a 2.13 ERA.

Kelly likes what he’s seeing from his starting pitchers, even if the Pirates are just 4-10 in those games thanks to a slumping offense.

“They are doing a great job,” said the Pirates’ manager. “They could be putting pressure on themselves and they are not. They are going out there and doing what they can do to help us stay in the game and finding ways to get deep into games too…It’s been good to see these guys go out there, do well and give us a chance to win.”

But Falter is a big reason why that’s the case, and he’s scheduled to make two more starts before the calendar flips to June.