Perrotto: Pulling of Bryse Wilson Stark Reminder CGs Thing of Past (+)
No manager ever likes to be second-guessed. Ever.
Of course, no one in any profession would enjoy having a wrong decision publicly questioned
When Jim Leyland managed the Pittsburgh Pirates a gazillion years ago he always said he didn’t care if media members second-guessed him as long as they first-guessed him.
Easier said than done, of course. It’s not like a reporter can call down to the dugout in the middle of the game and say, “Hey there Skipper, you should bring in a lefty right here.”
So, it was not a surprise that Pirates manager Derek Shelton wasn’t too excited about some of the questions following Wednesday’s 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in 10 innings at PNC Park.
Shelton pulled starting pitcher Bryse Wilson after eight innings even though the burly right-hander was working on a three-hit shutout as the Pirates led 3-0. Wilson was also three outs away from pitching what would have been his first complete game in his 43rd career start.
Wilson’s pitch count had reached 90, though, and Shelton felt his pitcher had enough for the day. The most pitches Wilson has ever thrown in the big leagues is 97.
The move backfired spectacularly. Chase De Jong gave up back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning to Kyle Farmer and Jake Fraley that drew the Reds into a 3-3 tie.
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Yohan Ramirez and Kevin Newman bailed Shelton out in the 10th. Ramirez threw a scoreless inning in the top of the inning and Newman delivered a game-winning single in the bottom half.
“In hindsight you can second-guess everything,” Shelton said. “But in terms of why we made the decision, and the thought process was, we’re going to stick to our process. I’m more excited that Bryse threw the ball as well as he did for eight innings and was able to execute pitches. That was the thing that I’ll take away from his outing.”
Shelton wasn’t just putting on a happy face with that comment. It was an encouraging outing by Wilson, who is 3-9 with a 5.53 ERA in 24 games, including 20 starts.
At 24, Wilson is young enough to be part of the rebuilding Pirates’ long-range plans. However, he has yet to show the consistency necessary to have a potentially lengthy major league career.
Wilson said he wanted to go back out for the ninth inning but “it was shut down pretty quickly.”
“Going into the sixth and seventh and even eighth inning, with the pitch count that I had, my body still felt good, there was no exhaustion or tiredness at all,” Wilson said. “Having that comfort in those late innings is really nice.
“I felt like I didn’t have a ton of high-stress pitches. I felt good.”
The old-school baseball side of me wanted to see Wilson get a shot at the shutout. They are hard to come by in today’s game.
Heck, even complete games are a very rare feat. There have been just 34 this season in the major leagues.
A Pirates pitcher has gone the distance only once in the 378 games Shelton has managed since taking over prior to the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Steven Brault pitched a two-hitter on 110 pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sept. 17, 2020 in an empty PNC Park.
The realist baseball side of me, though, understands nine-inning performances are all but a thing of the past. Some things in life must be begrudgingly accepted.