Perrotto: Roansy Contreras Appears to be Trending Upward (+)
PITTSBURGH – Something kind of got lost amongst the smoke and haze that surrounded the Pittsburgh Pirates’ sweep of the San Diego Padres this week at PNC Park.
Roansy Contreras recorded his first major-league save Tuesday night when he closed out the Pirates’ 9-4 victory in the opener of the three-game series.
Contreras pitched three scoreless innings. He allowed two hits while striking out three and walking one.
In many ways, it was the best that Contreras has looked since he was removed from the rotation after getting rocked for seven runs in 0.1 of an inning on June 7 in a loss to the Oakland Athletics.
However, the Pirates aren’t quite ready to return the 23-year-old right-hander to a starting role.
“We see Ro as a starter and think long-term he’ll be a starter,” manager Derek Shelton said. “There’s still things we feel we have to work on. When you have opportunities like that to use him for that third inning, I think that’s important because that transition back (to starting) may be easier. If we have to use him in a one-inning, leverage situation and we feel it’s our best chance, we’re going to use him because of the weapons he has. But in this time frame, being able to get him stretched out and then essentially save another bullpen arm by being able to do it, I think that’s important.”
Contreras has made five relief appearances since that last start and is 0-1 with a 6.73 ERA. He has given up six runs and seven hits in 8.1 innings while striking out eight and walking four.
However, he hasn’t given up a run in his last two outings, also pitching one scoreless inning last Saturday against the Marlins in Miami.
While Contreras was understandably disappointed in losing his spot in the rotation, Shelton believes he is now in a good frame of mind. Shelton also feels that is the result of the adjustments Contreras and pitching coach Oscar Marin are working on are beginning to take hold.
“Really good,” Shelton said when asked about Contreras’ mental state, “and I think the reason why there’s specific things we’ve been working on. That’s been the isolation of the conversation. When you have something you’re working on and you take it into game competition and see how it plays out, that really helps with the process.
“Again, like a lot of our guys, we have to remember Ro’s 23. He’s dealing with some things and working on them at the big-league level. Guys are going to get drafted a couple weeks from now that are just a year younger than he is, and he’s doing it at the major-league level and at this type of competition. So, the fact that there’s a process that he and Oscar are working on I think has been really helpful.”
In the long term, the Pirates would seemingly benefit more from Contreras being a starter. While he is just 7-10 with a 4.60 ERA in 30 big-league starts, which is the equivalent of one full season, Contreras has shown flashes of being a quality rotation piece.
An example of that was Contreras’ last three starts in April. He allowed two runs in six innings against the St. Louis Cardinals and one run in 6.2 innings against the Cincinnati Reds before pitching six shutout innings to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers.
On the other hand, Contreras went 0-4 with an 8.78 ERA in his next six starts.
However, Contreras’ outing this week was encouraging as the Pirates try to build their rotation of the future.
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