PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Pirates general manager Ben Cherington acknowledges there are issues in the bullpen, but he feels as of now, the answers are there internally.
“Believe in the guys in that group,” Cherington said with Pittsburgh reporters on Thursday. “I believe the guys in that group are capable of just performing more consistently and better than we've seen the last 2-3 weeks and there's no shortage of effort or accountability.”
“They're working on things. There's a plan for all of them but we know that to be the team we want to be we've got go get more consistent performance out of that bullpen."
The Pirates bullpen ERA is currently 19th in the majors at 4.24, what is noticeable is that it’s dropped four spots in the last seven days, mostly because of the right-handers.
Justin Lawrence is having an awful start to May, seven hits, seven runs, three earned (although his error allowed a couple of unearned runs), two walks and one strikeout in 2.1 innings this month. His season ERA is now 6.06.
Isaac Mattson was really solid last year and the first month of the season, but has given up seven earned runs in his last 1.1 innings.
Closer Dennis Santana gave up multiple runs in two of his last five outings. Cam Sanders was sent back to the minors. Yohan Ramirez leads the bullpen with 24 innings with a 4.13 ERA and in May has given up eight runs (seven earned) in 4.1 innings.
The lefties have been mostly really good this year, but at what point does Cherington think about outside help?
Cherington believes bullpens improve inside a season as players ‘get back to what they’re capable of doing’. They believe that will happen. He says other pitchers in the organization, either not in the majors or not currently relievers, will emerge as good bullpen options. He could be speaking of right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski moving back to the pen when Jared Jones returns, but didn’t say that specifically.
Lastly, Cherington said they will consider external options, but ‘it’s pretty early still’.
He said the Pirates currently are monitoring what is happening with other teams. Cherington made it clear there is urgency to improve, especially in a division with every team over .500 currently, it’s just they believe their guys will improve.
There is a lot resting on this season and right now they are riding with the guys they have, despite recent results.
LISTEN to the Pirates GM’s news conference
LISTEN to the Pirates GM’s news conference
