PITTSBURGH — It looks like Steven Brault will be one-and-done in the Pirates rotation, as Ivan Nova will rejoin the starting five on Sunday in his regular place in the rotation.
Brault filled in for Nova on Tuesday and allowed three runs over five innings in his first start in the majors this season. He’ll likely take a few days off before reporting back to the bullpen, though the team is still tinkering with the idea of a six-man starting rotation.
In the meantime, Brault has a lot of work to do. Unlike the small samples he was getting in relief, he’ll be able to take his five innings, analyze them and find things he needs to improve upon going forward.
He had already figured on of those things out Tuesday night.
“I was having trouble finishing hitters,” he said. “I think that was biggest problem I had (Tuesday). Moving forward, that’s going to be it, because that’s going to solve a lot of my problems.”
Now, he’ll have a few days to go about taking that lesson and putting it into place.
“This one can help him recalibrate,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “He stayed aggressive and that’s one of things with Steven that we’ve always seen. I think walking away, he’ll have a better look at it today.”
CLEMENTE DAY
Josh Harrison is the Pirates’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award and will be honored on the field before the game.
The Pirates players and coaches spent the afternoon at local schools, homeless shelters and other places, to honor the spirit of Clemente by giving back to the community.
Hurdle, coach Dave Jauss and first baseman John Jaso served lunch to homeless at the Light of Life Rescue Mission.
“It was a blast,” Hurdle said. “We served over 200 lunch today. It was very impactful.”
INJURY UPDATES
Francisco Cervelli, Adam Frazier, George Kontos, and Gregory Polanco all continue their rehab from injures, with Frazier, Kontos, and Polanco seemingly close to a return to the MLB roster.
ROOM FOR OSUNA
While the Pirates have played their young hitters extensively this homestand, Jose Osuna has been left out of that mix for the most part. He’ll start on Wednesday at first base while giving Josh Bell a rest, but Hurdle acknowledged the difficulty of finding innings for all of his team’s young players.
“We’re trying to hunt at-bats for him right now,” Hurdle said. “We do want to see (Jordan) Luplow in the outfield. Polanco could be coming back. Frazier. You’ve got three guys that can play and pick up innings there. (Josh) Bell, you want to keep feeding him at-bats. … If you’re going to give him the chance to catch his breath a left-hander, Osuna has been able to maintain his side of that dynamic.”
The Pirates remain intrigued by the possibility of trying Osuna at third base, but are still working out the best environment for that to take place.
“He has a winter in front of him, whether there will be winter ball or not, that will be something we’ll talk about in the exit interview,” Hurdle said. “Does third base become real? You’d like to find an instructional league environment to find him a way to get started there.”
STARTING LINEUP
Gm 140: #Pirates (67-72) vs Cubs (75-63)
LF
