During the offseason, the Tribune-Review will offer Pirates A to Z: An alphabetical, player-by-player look at the 40-man roster, from outfielder Miguel Andujar to pitcher Miguel Yajure.

Player: Wil Crowe

Positions: Pitcher

Throws: Right

Age: 28 (Nov. 7)

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 245 pounds

2022 MLB statistics: Went 6-10 with a 4.38 ERA and 1.39 WHIP, 68 strikeouts and 38 walks in 76 innings over 60 relief appearances.

Contract: Pre-arbitration eligible.

Acquired: From the Washington Nationals, along with pitcher Eddy Yean, in a trade for Josh Bell in December 2020.

This past season: After leading the Pirates with 25 starts in 2021, the Pirates put Crowe in a new role by moving him to the bullpen to take advantage of his competitive streak and ability to pitch multiple innings.

“He likes to throw. I know that sounds weird, but he was one of those starters that threw a lot between his starts,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “When you have a guy like that, the ability to bounce back shows up. It was one of the things when we started to identify who was going to start and who was going to pitch in these different roles because of his ability to bounce back, because of his ability to maintain his stuff – which is really rare for starters – we thought he would fit really well in a role like this.”

Crowe’s first six relief appearances were impressive, as opponents slashed .152/.235/.174. He didn’t allow a run while giving up seven hits and four walks against 16 strikeouts. That included earning his first major league save, whiffing four in three innings in a 6-2 win over the Chicago Cubs on April 13.

Wil Crowe was untouchable. ???? pic.twitter.com/dkFPtJygjk

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 10, 2022

Crowe handled about every situation imaginable, morphing from multi-inning reliever to bullpen bridge to pitching in high-leverage situations. He even handled the ninth inning while All-Star closer David Bednar missed seven weeks with low back tightness.

Crowe became a bulldog in the bullpen. A heavy workload, however, took its toll. Crowe led Pirates relievers in appearances (60) and innings pitched (76) and ranked second behind Bednar in strikeouts (68) but also gave up a bullpen-most 38 walks.

Where Bednar had a 3.31 ERA, 50 strikeouts and 24 walks over 51 ⅔ innings over his first 38 appearances, he struggled in the second half. His ERA ballooned to 6.66 and he gave up almost as many walks (14) as he had strikeouts (18) in his final 24 ⅓ innings.

Between Aug. 10 and Sept. 23, opponents slashed .328/.444/.597 with five home runs in 14 games against Crowe. Where he thrived in the multi-inning and setup roles, he looked overmatched as a closer who relied more on his changeup and slider than his sinker and four-seamer.

Wil Crowe, Dirty 88mph Slider. ???? pic.twitter.com/FP8y0vQyoj

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 23, 2022

Crowe blew a two-run lead at Milwaukee on Aug. 29, giving up a game-tying, two-run homer in the eighth and a two-run walkoff shot by Keston Hiura in the bottom of the ninth in a 7-5 loss.

The low point was yet to come. The Pirates had an 8-4 lead over the New York Yankees on Sept. 20 when Crowe surrendered a leadoff shot to Aaron Judge for his 60th homer of the season. It only got worse, as Anthony Rizzo doubled, Gleyber Torres drew a walk and Josh Donaldson singled to load the bases. Giancarlo Stanton followed with a line drive to left for a grand slam to cap the 9-8 comeback win.

Yankees WIN!

Aaron Judge’s 60th HR sparks 5-run rally in 9th to stun Pirates 9-8.

Stanton: Walk-off Grand Slam #RepBX pic.twitter.com/imOCbNBh7b

— Ryan Field (@RyanFieldABC) September 21, 2022

Opponents batted .342 and drew more walks (11) than strikeouts (seven) in September, though he fared well in his final appearance. Crowe threw two scoreless innings, allowing one hit while striking out two batters at Cincinnati on Sept. 27. Two days later, he was placed on the injured list with right elbow inflammation.

“I think that Wil had some real signs of growth this year,” Shelton said. “It was not a steady line across. There was some bumps in the road and things he really did and took to it. I know I’ve used the tempo. The tempo last night was outstanding. It’s as good as we’ve seen. Early in the year, at times it was way too slow. Because of that, there was too much time between pitches, in execution, repeating his delivery. Last night, I thought, was a really positive step to finish his season.”

The future: To his credit, Crowe handled the adversity as best he could and became known as one of the stand-up guys in a young clubhouse because of his willingness to speak candidly.

The Pirates struggled to close out games without Bednar, putting Crowe in a role for which he wasn’t suited. To make matters worse, they traded veteran reliever Chris Stratton to St. Louis at the deadline in August, and Crowe not only assumed a leadership role inside the clubhouse but also became the team’s player representative.

For Crowe, he proved something to himself.

“I think – I know – that I’m a big leaguer,” Crowe said. “Whether that’s at the beginning or end of a game or wherever throughout, I know that my ability can help the Pirates win ballgames. And that’s all I’m worried about. I think I’ve said it before, I can come in here and say I want to do something as much as I want, but they’re going to put me in a position where they think I help the team the most, and at the end of the day, that’s all I care about. Whether they want me to throw the first, the second, the fifth and the sixth, the eighth to get to Bednar, I don’t care.”

Crowe learned about what went well and where he struggled, and Pirates bullpen coach Justin Meccage believes Crowe will be better because of the peaks and valleys he experienced in his first season of relief.

“Being a reliever is much different than being a starter, in terms of everything from routines, volume, management, body recovery. I think he learned a lot about that over the course of the year being a bullpen guy that’s used in leverage spots,” Meccage said. “Moving forward, I think we’re going to see a really good version of Wil Crowe, where you see him have the ability to handle leverage situations but also bounce into that two-inning role that he thrived in early in the year.”

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