BRADENTON, Fla. — In search of what he lost, Felipe Rivero took a closer look at what made him so effective in 2017. The Pirates' left-handed closer has been erratic on the mound since reporting to spring training last month, missing the strike zone with each of his pitches, including his electric four-seam fastball.
He nearly hit two batters and walked three others in the Pirates' loss to the Yankees on Thursday. A conversation with Ray Searage and a closer look at video from last season informed Rivero why he was struggling.
So, rather than taking a day off following his rough outing, Rivero went to Pirate City to throw one inning in a minor-league game on Friday, and the result led him to express confidence that he found an answer to what has ailed him so far this spring.
"First fastball was dragging the middle; I’m back," Rivero told DKPittsburghSports.com on Saturday morning at LECOM Park. "That’s what I said to myself after that first pitch: ‘I’m back.’"
Instead of taking only a few weeks off during the offseason, Rivero, 26, didn't begin throwing until January in an effort to keep his arm healthy for the regular season.
Some pitchers prefer to participate in more strenuous activity, but Rivero wanted to give himself some added rest after throwing 75 1/3 innings for the Pirates in 2017. That came at a price, though.
Rivero's mechanics were a mess when he reported to spring training last month, although that's not unusual for a relief pitcher after a long offseason. His upper and lower body weren't working in unison, and he was moving both arms far too much before delivering each pitch.
As a result, his arm was moving far too fast for the rest of his body, negatively impacting his command.
"Not throwing for a month, you lose everything," Rivero explained. "It’s like if you stop doing anything for a week. You’ll lose it for at least for a little bit. For pitchers, that’s the most difficult thing when you’re coming back, when you start throwing and everything. Your arm angle is all over the place. Your body is not quick enough. That’s the main reason I was trying to get it, but I didn’t know what to do. I was trying everything. I was trying too hard instead of just keeping it simple."
Rivero has a 3.60 ERA and 2.00 WHIP in five innings this spring, walking five batters with six strikeouts and allowing nine runs, two of which were earned. He nearly hit Yankees left-handed first baseman Greg Bird and left-handed infielder Tyler Wade with rising four-seam fastballs near the head in the fourth inning on Thursday.
Since Jose Osuna was hit by a pitch the prior inning, Rivero said some of the Yankees thought he was trying to send a message. But the misfired throws were the result of his shoddy mechanics, which were on display for the rest of the inning.
"I almost hit two guys," Rivero said. "I don’t do that. I don’t do that, but they thought I was doing it because I didn’t say, ‘watch out,’ or something. I didn’t get mad because they hit Osuna. I wasn’t trying to hit anyone. I would never do that to a guy because I know how hard I throw and what could happen."
Although he got Brandon Drury to line out to center, Rivero walked Wade on eight pitches. When Brett Gardner reached on an error by Colin Moran to load the bases, Searage went to the mound to diagnose the mechanical issue.
Rivero then walked Aaron Judge to give the Yankees a run before he was removed from the game after only 11 of his 23 pitches were strikes. But he and Searage concocted a plan to fix the problem. It all started with Rivero needing to stop moving his hands so much during his delivery, which made his arm drag too far behind his body and forced his pitches to miss arm-side.
"It’s tough for me," Rivero added. "My arm is pretty fast and my lower body has to be moving at the same speed. Trying to pick that up takes a little bit."
Searage wanted Rivero to take the plan and use it in a minor-league game, throwing nothing but four-seam fastballs and changeups. Jacob Stallings, who caught Rivero at Pirate City, delivered a glowing review to Searage afterwards.
"I thought he was good," Stallings said. "I told him that from what I saw, I could tell he was so good by his misses. He wasn’t missing arm-side with his fastball and wasn’t yanking his changeup at all. He had really good angle. He looked really good. He’s so athletic and has such a good feel for the ball that he can make adjustments really quickly."
The challenge, though, is continuing to use those mechanics. After all, a slower delivery allowed Rivero to have a breakout season in 2017, as he seized the closer job in June and earned a four-year contract extension. Rivero had a 1.67 ERA, 0.889 WHIP, 21 saves and 88 strikeouts to 20 walks in 73 appearances.
His four-seam fastball reached 103 mph and opponents hit just .171 against him.
Trying to rediscover those mechanics was an unusual experience for Rivero. He started the minor-league game — he hasn't started an actual game since 2014 in the Arizona Fall League — and didn't throw one slider, but he left the backfields of the spring training complex feeling better than at any point this spring.
"I'm going to try to do the same thing every day, every day, so I don’t get messed up again," Rivero said. "My body was all over the place. My arm was all over the place. I think it went back to normal."
