PITTSBURGH — Don’t look now, but Trevor Williams might have gone from the bullpen to the Pirates’ most effective starting pitcher.
Williams went seven scoreless in the Pirates’ 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday. His season ERA is now 4.14 and it’s 4.02 as a starter, which is the lowest amongst the team’s five-man rotation.
On Sunday, he allowed eight hits and a walk but stranded seven with the help of five strikeouts. It’s the third straight strong outing from Williams, who had a 3.93 ERA in the month of August.
The key for Williams to navigating all the traffic on Sunday: “no panic.”
“We had a good game plan going,” Williams said. “We knew we could get some outs at the bottom of the zone. (Elias) Diaz called a great game … You make your biggest pitches of the game out of the stretch. Those are the pitches that hold the most merit.”
There’s a fine line between not panicking and getting complacent in the face of the very real danger he was in at the time, and Williams seems to have found a way to walk it.
“It could have a been a 2-1 game, 3-1 game with one swing of the bat,” he said. ”That’s what I flourish on: pitching with a sense of urgency and like my job depends on it. We have a lot of good guys coming up through the minors. It’s one of those things. Do your job and do it now and do it right.”
Williams should know all about that. He came out of the bullpen initially a short-term sub for Jameson Taillon, but has since put an iron grip on his spot in the starting rotation.
“For him to take that next step, it’s all part of the vision we had when we got him from the Marlins two years ago,” Hurdle said. “Give our scouting department credit. Give Neal and the guys up there credit. Now give the pitcher credit, because he’s been taking the ball and making those adjustments and getting better.”
Here’s more from Williams on his improvements and navigating the Reds’ lineup.
HE SAID IT
“I look around the league, I see other guys around the league that crowd the plate more than me. Why am I the one to get hit? I mean, you’ve got to throw in, but I think there might be something to it.” — Pirates 2B Josh Harrison on being hit with an MLB-high 23 pitches this season.
GAME IN GRAPHS
Williams used both of his fastballs, but leaned on the four-seamer more than the two-seamer and was able to locate it to all four corners of the zone.
QUICK HITS
***Jordy Mercer and Starling Marte hit solo home runs and the kids teamed up for a run in the sixth as Max Moroff doubled and Jordan Luplow singled him home. Both Moroff and Luplow finished 1 for 4.
It was Mercer’s career-high 13th home run of the season. He said he thinks the power surge is mostly just a byproduct of him being a more experienced hitter and capitalizing better on mistake pitches.
“I didn’t lift anymore,” he joked. “I just think it’s experience, getting myself in good situations to hit and knowing what the guy is trying to do to me.”
***Felipe Rivero gave up two walks, an error and an infield hit to allow an unearned run in the ninth but earned his 17th save nonetheless. Hurdle seemed unconcerned about the inefficient outing from his closer.
“I see it as a guy who’s pitching the most innings he’s ever pitched, the most leveraged innings he’s ever pitched and it being September,” Hurdle said. “Every once it a while, those days catch up to you.
