Major League Baseball

Hurdle hoping to use the bullpen less

Published May. 13, 2015 3:37 a.m. ET

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It's unrealistic to expect a starter to go seven or more innings every time out, but it's also unrealistic to expect the bullpen to pick up the load night after night.

The Pirates have a talented bullpen, and manager Clint Hurdle knows they can get the job done, but he also knows he needs to give them some rest and on Tuesday he outlined some of his concerns to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

“As of Tuesday, [Jared] Hughes had appeared in 19 of 32 games, [Tony] Watson 19 and [Mark] Melancon 16. Hughes had pitched in more games than anybody in the majors except for Colorado right-hander Jeremy Jeffess (19).

“'That's high, Hurdle said. “That would be called red-lining it if they were sports cars.'”

While the number of appearances is certainly high, the pitchers are happy to help out the team and haven't felt any excessive levels of exhaustion – at least not yet.

“It's extremely controlled,” Hughes said. “Every single pitch you throw in the bullpen or in the game is charted, and they tally it all up. They understand that if you're not throwing a lot and they'll keep you fresh. If you're throwing a lot, they stop and make sure they protect your arm.”

And in order to protect the arms in the bullpen, Hurdle is going to continue to monitor the situation because the last thing the Pirates need, or want, is for one of their key relievers to get hurt.

“There's always a day in a reliever's life where he gets hurt,” Hurdle said. “It happens on a day. And many will tell you when they replay the tap that there were signs – usage signs, pitch signs – that things were going on.”

(h/t Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

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