DUNEDIN, Fla. -- The Pirates' spring winning streak was snapped at two Monday, losing to the Blue Jays on the road, 4-0.
Before the game, though, one of their non-roster invitees packed his locker for the final time.
On Sunday, Tom Koehler got ready to pitch a sim game in Bradenton. He had thrown bullpens and live batting practice this spring, but this was it. The six-year major league vet needed an answer, and decided this was his last test.
He had been rehabbing for almost two whole years now. Not too many pitchers come back from anterior capsule strains in their shoulder, especially once they hit 33 years old. He had undergone the shoulder surgery and a long and tedious return to major league camp, but it this didn't go well, that would be it.
After the session, he talked to Derek Shelton about his decision. Shelton told him to take a day to talk to his family and sleep on it. Koehler did. He didn't change his mind.
On Monday, he decided it was time to hang it up, on the two year anniversary of the day he sustained his shoulder strain while pitching in Dodgers camp. It was the injury that started a 24 month cycle of rehab that he could not break out of.
"It's tough to be a pitcher when you can't throw the ball. Unfortunately, that's where I'm at," Koehler said Monday. "I don't have the energy to get caught into the rehab process anymore."
Koehler signed a minor-league deal with the Pirates in February of 2019 with an option for 2020, giving him a club to do his rehab with and the team the right of first refusal to a pitcher many projected to be a good bullpen piece.
He entered spring training in good health and with high hopes, but was unable to get into a game.
"It's tough because when I came to spring, I felt great," Koehler said. "My first two bullpens felt great. You can talk to the pitching coaches. They were like, 'okay, the guy is back. This is the guy we signed.'
"But once I threw the first live BP, things went in the opposite direction."
Koehler did have the option to shut down for four weeks and then start to rebuild endurance and arm strength again, but his last two years have been filled with just that. At some point, enough is enough.
And as he spoke Monday, he seemed to be mostly at peace with his decision. Or at least as close one could be walking away after a 12 year professional career.
"At my age, the odds were against me. I thought this was the right time to step away and move on the next part of my life."
It turns out Shelton was in the dugout the last time Koehler pitched in a game: Sep. 29, 2017 for the Blue Jays. The two got to know each other in Toronto, which made Koehler's retirement even more "disheartening" for Shelton.
"You feel bad for the person," Shelton said. "Not taking anything away from the baseball part, but he's such a good human being and a good person."
There will be more baseball for Koehler. He just doesn't know when or in what capacity. He has been reading up on sabermetrics and wants to get a better understanding of how they work. There could be a future for him in coaching, or in a front office.
"I’ve done work with the Players Association. I understand both sides of the business pretty well," Koehler said. "I understand it’s a player-driven business. As a, I guess, former player, which is weird to say, I hope that’s something I never lose."
Shelton wouldn't be surprised if that happens.
"I don't think we've seen the last of Tom Koehler in baseball," Shelton said.
For right now, he is going home to spend time with his family and do the things he wasn't able to before, like go on a spring break vacation. A real vacation where he doesn't have to stop at a gym or throw into a pillow to stay on his program.
"Devoting the same energy and focus that I've put into the game into other aspects, I think it's going to be nice," Koehler said. "It's going to be strange."
Actually, there is an immediate coaching future for him. On Tuesday, he is going to be an assistant for his five-year-old daughter's softball team.
• It was a mixed bag for Mitch Keller's breaking stuff in his third spring outing. The curveball was snapping, and he made a meal of poor Vladimir Guerrero Jr., tossing three in a row to him in the second. The result: Called strike, foul, big whiff at a ball in the dirt.
The slider, on the other hand, still needs some more polishing. Later in the second, he hung one to Danny Jansen, who crushed it for a two run homer.
"My slider is still coming along," Keller said. "I will keep working on it through spring. I had that one that left the yard. I want to keep getting better there."
He finished allowing three runs in 2.1 innings, three hits allowed, two strikeouts, a walk and a home run allowed. He also made an error on a pick-off throw.
• Really no offense to speak of in this one. Adam Frazier, Kevin Newman and Jason Martin each singled. Ke'Bryan Hayes and Kevin Kramer drew a walk. That's it. A far cry from Sunday's offensive explosion.
• The Pirates deployed the four-man outfield against Cavan Biggio again, bouncing Frazier back to the outfield again. He did fly out to left in his second at-bat, but it would have been a fairly routine play for a three-man outfield.
Biggio went 0-2.
Frazier has been taking more reads during batting practice to prepare for these shifts, which Shelton said the Pirates will use this season.
"It's nothing out of the ordinary," Frazier was telling me about occasionally playing in the outfield again.
• Edgar Santana made his third consecutive scoreless, hitless appearance, tossing a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth. The fastball looks good and the slider is moving. He could be a big boost for the bullpen this year.
• Chris Archer threw a live batting practice session Monday in Bradenton. They will most likely set a plan for his return Tuesday.
• There's an actual, honest to goodness off-day tomorrow. The first full one the Pirates have had this spring.
I'm sleeping in.
• In case you missed it: Steven Brault was shut down with a left shoulder strain. He will be re-assessed in two weeks.
• Who threw today:
Mitch Keller: 2.1 Ip, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 1 HR
Brandon Waddell: 0.2 IP
Edgar Santana: 1 IP
Geoff Hartlieb: 1 IP, 1 K
Blake Cederlind: 1 R, 2 K, 2 BB
Cody Ponce: 1 IP, 2 K
James Marvel: 1 IP, 1 K
