With thin starting rotation, Pirates turning relievers into openers as a short-term solution

The Pittsburgh Pirates knew the post-trade deadline would serve as a difficult stretch in their schedule, one that would provide challenges to a starting rotation beset by injuries and ineffectiveness.

After losing JT Brubaker and Vince Velasquez to season-ending elbow surgeries, demoting Roansy Contreras and Luis Ortiz to the minors and trading Rich Hill, the Pirates are short on starting pitching depth.

They have resorted to relying on relievers as openers, a short-term solution they are hoping goes a long way for their future.

That will be the case for the third time in four games Monday night, when right-hander Thomas Hatch is scheduled to start against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park. The Pirates used righty Andre Jackson on Friday night and lefty Ryan Borucki on Sunday afternoon at Minnesota.

“When you have a traditional starting pitcher, you’re hoping that guy gets 18-20 outs — sometimes more than that, if a guy’s really on his game — and gives you a chance to win,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Sunday on his weekly radio show on 93.7 FM. “On good teams — and the team we want to build here — more often than not we want to start the game with that kind of guy.

“Sometimes you have to get those outs in different ways. Even on good teams, there are parts of the season where you have to be able to do that well, sometimes regularly. Maybe not three or four days a week but regularly.”

Cherington cited the Tampa Bay Rays and San Francisco Giants as playoff-caliber teams that have used relievers as openers effectively when a traditional starter isn’t available. It’s not something he wants the Pirates to do often but when necessary.

Since the Aug. 1 trade deadline, the Pirates have had four instances when their starting pitcher completed six or more innings. All four were quality starts: Johan Oviedo turned in a pair of seven-inning outings and Mitch Keller a pair of six-inning outings.

The other 15 games have required a patchwork of performances, from traditional starters in newly acquired left-hander Bailey Falter and rookie right-handers Osvaldo Bido and Quinn Priester to relievers like Jackson, Borucki and, now, Hatch.

“The silver lining on this period is we’re kind of getting practice on how to do that,” Cherington said. “How do we combine two to three pitchers to get to 18-20 outs and give us a chance to win? Sometimes, that’s going to mean the next day. Sometimes, it’s going to mean we need to add a new pitcher from Indy because we’re going to need a new pitcher the next day. It may lead to more roster changes (with) that approach.”

That might have been a hint that Ortiz, who was 2-3 with a 4.86 ERA and only 5.7 strikeouts per nine innings in 10 starts for the Pirates this season, could be recalled for Wednesday’s series finale with the Cardinals. Ortiz, who allowed five runs on nine hits and three walks with six strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings Friday at St. Paul, hasn’t pitched more than five innings in a game since June 23.

The Pirates went deep into their bullpen Sunday, using five pitchers in the 2-0 loss to the Twins. Pirates manager Derek Shelton said the strategy allows for favorable matchups, evidenced by Borucki throwing two perfect innings against a Twins lineup that stacked four right-handed hitters and a switch hitter in the top six of their order. When Bido replaced Borucki, the Twins pinch-hit for Luplow at the leadoff spot with Joey Gallo, only for the lefty hitter to strike out three times.

Borucki started 17 games for Toronto in 2018 and has 21 career starts out of 119 appearances, including two for the Pirates. Borucki said he brings a bullpen attitude to the beginning of a game.

“You have to attack like you would as a reliever, but you’re doing it in the first inning,” Borucki said. “A lot of guys, that first at-bat they’re trying to feel everything out. If you spin something in there for a strike, you can steal and get to 0-1. After that, once you get ahead, it’s just make pitches.”

Borucki made his first start for the Pirates on July 22 at the Los Angeles Angels, striking out three in 1 2/3 scoreless innings. It was his first start since July 2019, when he was with the Blue Jays. Borucki said he didn’t want to warm up too early, in case the Pirates had a long first inning.

“The first time I did it in L.A., that was the toughest part, probably, trying to figure out timing-wise what worked,” Borucki said. “(Sunday) was a little bit easier because I just took what I did in L.A. with my pregame routine and tried to do all the same things.”

It’s a routine the Pirates could be seeing more of over the final six weeks of the season, which could be cause for Shelton to get creative with the pitching staff.

“Just the fact that we get the right matchups,” Shelton said on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show, “I think you’ll see us use openers for multiple people throughout the last 40 games, just mix and match.”