Before the season started, the Pittsburgh Pirates had a tough task mapping out how they wanted to handle the Altoona Curve’s pitching staff — one that was set to contain some of the top prospects in the system. No one could have predicted it would have gone the way it has.
Injuries happen, it’s part of the game, but Altoona has been hit especially hard. They’ve been without Quinn Priester all season. Carmen Mlodzinski has also missed time, and Kyle Nicolas is currently on the injured list.
As the injuries have mounted, Altoona has had to get creative with how they filled the innings, also taking an opportunity to try out some new things.
We saw the Pirates try an opener this season at the major league level, something that Altoona had deployed as well. They’ve also been forced into several bullpen games the past few weeks to try and finish out a series.
In total, seven relievers (six on the active roster) have made a single start for the Curve this season. You can see how recent this has been coming up, with six of the seven instances have taken place since May 27.
| Player | Date | IP | H | ER | BB | K |
| Zach Matson | May 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Austin Roberts | May 27 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Will Kobos | June 2 | 1 2/3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Tahnaj Thomas | June 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Noe Toribio | June 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| JC Flowers | June 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Enmanuel Mejia | June 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The pitching staff has come through, despite the situation. In those seven games they had to start, they have allowed just three earned runs across 13 2/3 innings (1.97 ERA).
When it comes to the bullpen as a whole, they have the second best ERA in the Eastern League, and have 288 strikeouts in 247 1/3 innings. Despite the injuries, the pitching staff has the most strikeouts in the league during the month of June.
There’s been a lot to deal with in Altoona this season, but the pitching staff has answered the call to do what was necessary to make things work.
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