Bailey Falter kept the Pittsburgh Pirates on a winning note on Saturday, matching his season-high in strikeouts as the Pirates beat the Mariners 7-2. The left-hander allowed two runs in 5.2 innings of work, walking none and striking out eight.
Falter was using his slider more often, which grades as one of the best whiff-generating pitches in the Pirates rotation. The pitch led to nine whiffs on 20 swings (45%) on Saturday night, with Falter throwing the slider 34% of the time.
I wrote on Friday that Pirates starters should be using their swing and miss pitches more often. Falter has been doing this with his slider since June 30th, throwing the pitch in excess of 30% of his pitches in all but one start. Prior to that date, he was only throwing the slider 13.8% of the time.
Falter got support from the long-ball. Isiah Kiner-Falefa led off the game with a solo homer. Rowdy Tellez hit a two runs homer in the fourth inning, giving the Pirates a 3-1 lead. They broke the game open with three runs in the seventh inning, with help from a solo shot by Jared Triolo.
After Kiner-Falefa picked up his third hit of the night, following Triolo’s homer, the Pirates added two more runs on doubles by Joey Bart and Tellez.
At 58-64, the Pirates are showing some signs of life, following their ten game losing streak. They go for the sweep against Seattle tomorrow at 1:35 PM, with RHP Jake Woodford on the mound.
The DH Spot is Open
The Pittsburgh Pirates will have an open DH spot for the next two weeks, with Andrew McCutchen going on the injured list on Saturday.
Oneil Cruz filled the DH role for Saturday’s game, after leaving Friday’s game with an injured ankle. Cruz didn’t look like he was too hurt, stealing a base in the fourth inning, after a leadoff walk.
When Cruz returns to the field, the DH role will allow the Pirates to cycle some of their lesser defenders into the position, while keeping bats in the lineup. Bryan Reynolds could get some looks in that scenario.
One move that would make sense is calling up Henry Davis to only focus on hitting. Davis is batting .277/.346/.447 with two homers this month, after hitting .359/.414/.578 during the month of July in Triple-A. He’s also cut down on his strikeout rate since the All-Star Break, with a 16.8% mark to go with his 8.4% walk rate.
Davis has been catching in Triple-A, but he needs to adjust to Major League pitching at some point. This would provide a good opportunity to get him at-bats, without having to worry about the workload and energy behind the plate.
Pirates Prospect Watch
Thomas Harrington threw seven shutout innings in his third start at the Triple-A level. Sammy Siani had three hits for Altoona. Braylon Bishop hit a homer for Bradenton. Read about all of Saturday’s action in the latest Pirates Prospect Watch.
