Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: With JT Brubaker out, Pirates starting to sweat starting pitching depth

When Ben Cherington dabbed a black towel on the beads of perspiration on his forehead while talking to reporters Wednesday morning near the home dugout at PNC Park, it appeared the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager was battling the sunshine on his face.

Then again, he could have been sweating about the starting pitching depth.

What was expected to be a strength this season became a concern when, about an hour after a 7-0 loss to the Houston Astros, the Pirates announced that 29-year-old right-hander JT Brubaker had Tommy John surgery and would miss the next 14-16 months.

Cherington gave a cryptic response when asked about Brubaker and top-10 prospect Mike Burrows, a 23-year-old right-hander who pitched in the Futures Games last summer but left Saturday’s start at Triple-A Indianapolis with an elbow injury: “Both are going to be out for a while.”

The Brubaker news was hardly a surprise, despite the Pirates’ secrecy surrounding his status since placing him on the 15-day injured list on Opening Day and transferring him to the 60-day IL on April 2. That Brubaker missed his final spring training start and left Bradenton, Fla., to be examined by team doctors in Pittsburgh was a bad sign. That he sought a second opinion on his elbow was even worse news.

When the Pirates replaced Brubaker in the rotation with Johan Oviedo, it depleted their starting pitching depth. Cherington called Burrows “part of that first line of defense likely in Indy.” That Burrows also is seeking a second opinion on his elbow could bring more bad news.

What if another Pirates starting pitcher goes down?

“First and foremost we look internally,” Cherington said. “It’ll be an opportunity for guys in the minor leagues to step up, too.”

1. Heat is on: It’s no accident that Cherington used right-hander Luis Ortiz as an example of a prospect who came out of nowhere, considering the 24-year-old right-hander rose from Double-A to the majors last season and dazzled in his debut by touching triple digits six times and averaging 99 mph on 53 four-seam fastballs.

“Last April, I certainly wasn’t anticipating Luis Ortiz making starts in the big leagues for us. He eventually did,” Cherington said. “That means there could be another guy who we’re not thinking about right now who has a chance to emerge.”

Perhaps that’s a good omen for Double-A Altoona’s young right-handers Jared Jones, Justin Meis and Kyle Nicolas.

More likely, the Pirates would turn to Ortiz again after he made four starts for them late last year. Ortiz is 0-1 with a 2.92 ERA and 1.05 WHIP, 17 strikeouts, six walks and a .159 batting average against in 12 1/3 innings over three starts at Indy this season.

Baseball America ranks Ortiz the Pirates’ No. 4 prospect, while MLB Pipeline has him No. 8, one spot ahead of Burrows.

Quinn Priester, the Pirates’ 2019 first-round pick, is ranked one spot ahead of Ortiz in MLB Pipeline rankings and one spot behind by Baseball America. The 22-year-old right-hander is 1-1 with a 7.27 ERA and 1.85 WHIP, eight strikeouts, five walks and a .306 batting average against in 8 2/3 innings over two starts at Indy.

With Ortiz and Priester considered the organization’s top two pitching prospects, the Pirates could prioritize their development and keep both in the minors.

Another starting option is Caleb Smith, a 31-year-old left-hander who has made 147 career appearances (64 starts) in the majors for the New York Yankees, Miami Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks.

The other starter at Indy is 27-year-old right-hander Osvaldo Bido, who has a 1.29 ERA, 0.57 WHIP, six strikeouts without a walk and a .160 batting average against in seven innings over two starts.

“There really is that opportunity,” Cherington said. “We’ll do whatever we can to help guys take the next step. Someone will take the next step, step up and fill some of that hole that’s been created.”

2. Ready to return: Catcher Austin Hedges has been on the seven-day concussion injured list since April 4, two days after taking a foul ball off the facemask in the series finale at Cincinnati.

Hedges said Wednesday he is “feeling good” and is optimistic he could be activated to play at St. Louis after missing three series while going through the recovery process.

“It killed me,” Hedges said. “At the same time, it was awesome to watch the boys go out and win a lot of games. It’s time to be back out there.”

After his third concussion in as many years, Hedges knew what was required to play but also that he needed to be careful.

“Brain injuries are scary. That’s really what it comes down to,” Hedges said. “It’s not like having an arm injury, where I can have a banged up arm and go out and play. With brain injuries, you’ve got to be really careful and make sure that it’s 100%. As a catcher, you’re used to play through pain so it’s really hard not to be able to play through something like that.”

3. Making moves: When Hedges returns, the Pirates will have to make a 40-man roster decision with a backup catcher. That could mean designating either Jason Delay or Tyler Heineman for assignment. Both were designated for assignment in the offseason, cleared waivers and received non-roster invitations to spring training.

Delay won the backup job and has slashed .238/.304/.429 with a double, homer and two RBIs in six games since Hedges went on the IL, while Heineman is hitting .167 (1 for 6) in two games.

The Pirates also will have to make a roster decision when righty reliever Robert Stephenson is ready to return from the 15-day injured list. Lefty Rob Zastryzny is the most likely candidate, given that he was the last player to make the Opening Day roster, but Pirates manager Derek Shelton wasn’t tipping his hand.

“It’s challenging when you have guys coming off and a guy that we planned on playing a large part of our bullpen like we thought Bob was going to do,” Shelton said Tuesday. “He’s going to have another appearance in Indy and we will figure it out from there.”

4. Looking for relief: The catching carousel affected the Pirates’ bullpen depth, as they designated righty reliever Edwin Uceta for assignment only two days after claiming him off waivers from the Detroit Tigers to make room on the 40-man roster for Heineman.

Uceta was claimed by the New York Mets, so the Pirates made a waiver claim on another righty reliever, Eli Villalobos.

Villalobos, 25, was a 14th-round pick out of Long Beach State by the Miami Marlins, where Pirates pro evaluation team leader Hadi Raad worked the past three seasons. Raad’s familiarity with the backstory on Villalobos helped the decision, Cherington said, as he returned from Tommy John surgery “then just kind of really popped last year in the Marlins’ system, had a really successful minor-league season in the bullpen, showing in our estimation, plus stuff, good strikeout rates.”

Shelton said Villalobos having three minor-league options remaining allows for roster flexibility. Then again, he could follow Uceta’s path if the Pirates need to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

5. Replacing Cruz: Cherington shared some insight on how the Pirates decided which infielder to promote from Indianapolis when Oneil Cruz was lost to a fractured left ankle.

They chose Mark Mathias, acquired from Texas in March, because of his bat even though Tucupita Marcano was named International League player of the week after batting .526 (10 for 19) with five doubles, a 1.053 slugging percentage and 1.603 OPS.

Difference is, Mathias hits righty while Marcano bats lefty. And the Pirates were scheduled to face at a handful of lefties in Houston’s Framber Valdez, Jordan Montgomery and Steven Matz of the Cardinals and Kyle Freeland and Austin Gomber of the Colorado Rockies.

“We talked about a number of options,” Cherington said. “We looked at the next 10 days and I think we were staring at five lefthand starters-ish and there might even be a righty or two in there who might be a reverse-type split guy, so we felt like there was a huge case for a right-handed hitter at the time.”

With Rodolfo Castro switching to shortstop, the Pirates also need someone capable of backing up Ke’Bryan Hayes at third base in a pinch. Where Marcano plays primarily second base and left field, Mathias can play second, third and both corner outfield spots.

“He’s a smart baseball player, he’s a mature baseball player, does a lot of good things and we just sought a role for him in the short term and we’ll see how that plays out,” Cherington said of Mathias. “There are other guys in Indy we certainly wouldn’t hesitate to call up at some point if there’s a need.”

Cherington has to hope that none of them are starting pitchers.