PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Pirates Opening Day starter to return as Bucs opening brief two-game road trip on Monday.
Out since April 18 due to right shoulder discomfort, right-hander Chad Kuhl starts for the Bucs in Kansas City the last day of May.
“I’m excited for Chad to get back in the mix,” said manager Derek Shelton. “I think the more options you have, the better it is. Especially with pitching, you can never have enough pitching depth.”
To that point, Kuhl may be part of a 6-man rotation, at least for stretches of time. Pirates management and coaches don’t want to overwork players due to the short 2020 season.
“I think we knew coming into the year there would be different opportunity for different guys,” Shelton said. “I think we saw it with Cody (Ponce) coming up. I think we saw it with Yajure coming up. Different pitchers, players are going to have opportunities to do things.”
Kuhl is the most veteran in the rotation in terms of starts with the Bucs. The 28-year-old has made 74 in black and gold with a 4.44 ERA. Walks have been the issue for the Delaware native, 169 in 375 career innings, this season 16 walks to 14 strikeouts. However his last start before the injury, he only walked one.
“It was a major conversation with him before he went out on his rehab,” Shelton said. “Attack the zone. Go after people. You’re stuff plays in the zone.”
“I think it’s been a common theme for some of our starters this year that we’ve talked about. It’s extremely important. Part of Chad’s rehab was not just getting healthy, it was making sure that he continued to what he did in that last start and attacked the strike zone.”
It’s a rare night start on Memorial Day, 8:10 on 93.7 The Fan.