After uncertainty, reliever Chase De Jong ready to return in multi-inning role for Pirates

When Chase De Jong returned to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, he already knew his role. Where his new locker was located was another story, as he scanned the clubhouse to search for his jersey.

Almost a month after being designated for assignment and clearing waivers, De Jong was back in the bullpen after his contract was selected from Triple-A Indianapolis a day after the Pirates used eight pitchers in their 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Reliever Yerry De Los Santos was optioned to make room on the active roster, and De Jong got the call. He was scheduled to open for the Indians on Saturday night; instead, he flew from Indianapolis to Charlotte and had to wait through a weather delay before arriving in Pittsburgh at 3 a.m. Sunday, less than nine hours before first pitch.

De Jong is ready to serve as a multi-inning reliever again, with hopes that he would find better success this time than he did last month.

“It’s a role that I’m comfortable in. It’s a role that I love. It’s a role that I thrive in,” De Jong said. “Now it’s just coming down to executing and being the pitcher that we know I can be. I want to be that pillar of consistency, that I can run out there for multiple innings multiple times a week and keep the team in the game and give us a chance to win.”

De Jong, 29, posted a 10.61 ERA and 1.93 WHIP in 9 1/3 innings over five appearances this season, allowing as many walks (five) as strikeouts. He was designated for assignment two days after giving up five runs on six hits, including two home runs, in two innings in a 10-1 loss to Toronto on May 7.

Not knowing his standing with the team was unsettling for De Jong, who has played for seven major league teams since 2012 and spent part of a season playing in an independent league.

“It feels better now. It felt a lot worse when it happened because of how much it means to me to be here and the opportunity I had here,” De Jong said. “But once the designating process was done and I cleared waivers and they told me, ‘You’re still a Pirate’ and you get to go to Indy, there was some relief with that.

“The uncertainty and turmoil of the waivers process and transfer portal is not fun at all but getting on the other side of it, I was thrilled that I’m still part of this organization. I’m really happy that they were able to see me through and give me innings down there to help me get back on track and throw the ball better.”

At Indianapolis, De Jong studied himself and found that he had gotten away from throwing his fastball and was leaning too heavily on the spin of his off-speed pitches.

“I went down there and was game-planning against myself (and asked), ‘What would I do?’” De Jong said. “I was looking at my outings and saying, ‘OK, he is not in zone with the fastball.’ If you do that, they don’t have to respect 92-94 (mph). They can sit between my curveball speed that’s 75 and the hardest pitch I throw off-speed-wise is a splitter, which is like 86. You’ve got an 11-mph range that they can sit on and eliminate my fastball. I think that’s why I was struggling.”

With the help of Pirates minor league pitching coordinator Josh Hopper, Indians pitching coach Dan Meyer and bullpen coach Drew Benes, De Jong worked on his fastball command and had seven strikeouts against five walks in five games.

“Everybody was on the same page,” De Jong said. “They were always reiterating, ‘We’re here to help you and to get you back because we know what you’re capable of.’ It’s nice to have the support of the organization to see me through a rough patch. By no means am I out of it. I still have a lot of work to do here. I’m ready to get back to work.”