Pirates’ Bullpen Taxed After Another Rain-Shortened Start; Roster Move Needed?

PITTSBURGH — For the second time in their last three games, the Pittsburgh Pirates dealt with a lengthy rain delay that resulted in an abbreviated outing for their starting pitcher.

On Saturday, Mitch Keller was only able to go four innings after the skies over PNC Park opened and rain started to fall. The Pirates went on to use five pitchers to cover the final five innings in a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In the series opener against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night, the Pirates had an even longer rain delay. Bailey Falter blanked the Padres in two innings before a downpour resulted in a delay of 2 hours and 40 minutes.

“Yeah, it was definitely frustrating, for sure,” Falter said on his abbreviated outing. “I feel like we all saw this coming, but for some reason we still played on time. But that’s above my pay grade. My job is to go out there and toe the rubber when I’m told, and that’s exactly what we did.”

After the delay, the Pirates had to use four more relievers to cover the remaining innings in a 6-0 loss.

Jake Woodford was the first one out of the bullpen and pitched 2.1 innings. The Pirates then went to Kyle Nicolas for 2.2 innings, followed by Hunter Stratton and Dennis Santana, each of whom covered an inning. Woodford took the loss after being charged with three runs. Nicolas allowed one run and Santana allowed a pair to score. Stratton was the only reliever with a scoreless outing.

“It’s two hours and then you end up playing a bullpen game,” manager Derek Shelton said following the loss. “They got a good bullpen and we didn’t keep them at bay.”

Given that this is the second time in the same homestand that the Pirates have had to deal with these circumstances, they find themselves in a predicament. Even with an off day on Monday, the Pirates’ bullpen is short-handed heading into the final two games of the series without another day off until next Thursday.

Although Woodford and Nicolas were able to give the Pirates multiple innings, a roster move to add a fresh arm to the bullpen might be necessary.

“I don’t know. I’m going to have to get with (pitching coach Oscar Marin) and see where we are at,” Shelton said on the possibility. “Where we think people are at and then we will talk through that and kinda go from there.”

In addition to the two interrupted starts over the last couple games, the Pirates have Marco Gonzales on the mound on Wednesday. Gonzales returned from the injured list just before the All-Star break and has yet to go more than five innings in three starts since his activation.

The only realistic possibility currently on the 40-man roster is left-hander Josh Walker, who was acquired from the New York Mets at the trade deadline. Walker has not pitched since Aug. 3.

Walker posted a 5.11 ERA across 10 appearances in the big leagues with the Mets this season. He has a 3.34 ERA in Triple-A between the Pirates and Mets affiliates.

The only other pitchers in the minor leagues on the Pirates’ 40-man roster are starters Braxton Ashcraft and Mike Burrows. Ashcraft is on the injured list and Burrows recently worked his way back to Indianapolis after finishing a rehab stint following Tommy John surgery last spring.