PITTSBURGH — Last season, Pirates reliever A.J. Schugel threw his last inning of the year on August 30. He was shut down during the month of September with a shoulder injury after posting a 3.63 ERA in 52 innings.
Of the Pirates pitchers that eclipsed the 50-inning mark, only Jared Hughes (3.03 ERA), Tony Watson (3.06 ERA), and Neftali Feliz (3.52 ERA) performed better, and with Feliz a free agent, it seemed likely that Schugel would find a role in the Pirates 2017 bullpen based on that performance.
But the shoulder injury lingered into the offseason and wreaked havoc with Schugel’s usual plans. Instead of coming into Spring Training ready to take a job for himself, Schugel was still playing catch up. It showed.
In 10 games this spring, Schugel had a 4.66 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP, as he walked six batters in 9.2 innings. He never seemed to really get close to securing a bullpen role and started the season in Indianapolis, where his March struggles bled into April. In eight games with the Indians that month, he had a 9.82 ERA, and a 1.91 WHIP.
Schugel settled down, had a sparkling May and June (1.26 ERA and 2.08 ERA, respectively) and earned his way back into the majors. That’s not a process he’s keen to repeat. In 25.2 innings with the Pirates, he has a 2.10 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. He’d like to continue to pitching well, obviously, but more than anything, he’d just like to continue pitching and be able to have a normal offseason to set himself up for a successful 2018.
“For me, that would be a big one,” Schugel said. “Missing September last year, that kind of changed things and I had to put in a lot of work in the offseason to (try to) get it right. Finishing it out healthy and going into a more-normal offseason will be big. … As far as pitching, just keep doing what I’m doing. Take the ball when it’s time and take advantage of the opportunity.”
The opportunity being presented isn’t just one to finish out the season, it’s one to potentially get a head start a bullpen job for 2018. Schugel, Daniel Hudson, George Kontos and Dovydas Neverauskas seem to have the inside tracks on right-handed relief jobs, but Edgar Santana, Angel Sánchez and others are also likely to get playing time. Manager Clint Hurdle said he’s going to try different relievers in different roles to get a look at everyone down the stretch.
“We’re not going to tag an eighth inning guy or a seventh inning guy right now,” Hurdle said. “We’re just going to look at the lineup and work our way through it.”
That should work well for Schugel, who has had success as a multi-inning reliever and also pitching a single frame. He does not have a large platoon split, and the slight one that he has is backwards (.703 OPS vs RHH, .658 OPS vs LHH). That’s thanks to a changeup that Fangraphs calls his best pitch with a 1.72 wCH/c over his career.
Schugel knows it’s a weapon he has that not only helps getting hitters out, but separates him from other right-handed relievers. But he hasn’t placed any additional focus on the development of it, instead working toward building up the total package of his work.
“Everyone is getting evaluated every time out,” Schugel said. “You never know what can happen in the offseason, so it’s always good to put yourself in a good position going into it and finishing the year strong.”
