Kovacevic: You know, it's wholly possible the wrong 'starters' are starting taken in Milwaukee (DK's 10 Takes)

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JT Brubaker pitches in the first inning Tuesday night in Milwaukee.

MILWAUKEE -- JT Brubaker's formula is nothing if not refined:

1. Walk somebody.
2. Serve up a home run.
3. Shower within the hour.

He's been stuck on that same treadmill since midsummer of 2021, and there'd be somewhat of another sequel in the Pirates' 5-2 loss to the Brewers on this Tuesday night at American Family Field with a five-inning line of four runs and, hey, just the one bomb:

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In fairness, he'd find himself afterward for three clean innings, but that Rowdy Tellez laser into the second deck above right field accounted for two runs in the Milwaukee second, following a five-pitch walk to Andrew McCutchen, after which a tough error on Kevin Newman and a walk to Victor Caratini set up Kolten Wong's two-run double and a 4-0 lead.

Facing Corbin Burnes, the National League's reigning Cy Young winner, that's ballgame right there. Over before it's begun.

And that, my friends, is the most familiar refrain of this team's 5-6 start: The guys in the back pitch really well. The guys in the front are ... well, they've now given up at least a run within the first two innings of all but one start to date, they've had a total of two starts achieve five full innings, and these are their current rankings among all 30 of Major League Baseball's starters:

Record: 0-6, 30th
ERA: 6.90, 29th
WHIP: 1.80, 28th
Home runs: 8, 27th
K/BB rate: 1.36, 28th

Not one has risen up to even a mediocre level. Brubaker's got a 7.30 ERA, two of those home runs and a team-worst nine walks. Mitch Keller, who had everyone legit excited about his found-gold, triple-digit fastball, has a 9.39 ERA. Zach Thompson's at 9.00, Bryse Wilson at 5.40, and Jose Quintana at 3.86 despite zero-factor stuff.

Now, want to see something funny?

Check out those same figures for the bullpen:

Record: 5-0, 1st
ERA: 2.74, 9th
WHIP: 0.99, 4th
Home runs: 4, 14th
K/BB rate: 2.05, 24th

And within that pack, the very best pitchers on the staff so far have been pseudo-starters. And by the latter, I'm referencing the four other pitchers -- Wil Crowe, Dillon Peters, Miguel Yajure and rookie wunderkind Roansy Contreras -- who've been starters throughout their professional careers but are being asked to work out of the pen this year as part of a new management plan to utilize relievers in longer sequences. Between Crowe and Peters, in particular, they've pitched 16 2/3 scoreless innings while giving up three hits, striking out 15 against eight walks. 

It's a terrific concept. Honestly, I've hoped to see something like this from the Pirates for years, in large part to dull the disadvantage at which they function financially in starting pitching depth more than any other position. The more starters, the more flexibility and, theoretically, the more fire.

One problem so far: The wrong 'starters' are starting.

I asked Derek Shelton before this game in the visiting dugout if there's a chance he'd flip one or more of these guys, singling out Crowe and Peters, and he answered without hesitation, "I think they could vault themselves to the front of the game. And we also saw that Wil vaulted himself to the back of the game in a positive way."

That was a reference to Crowe's Elroy Face-style three-inning save to cut down the Cubs a week ago at PNC Park.

"And so, how we're going to use these guys, I think, will depend on the matchup," Shelton continued. "We could see, you know, somebody open in front of them. We could see them open a game and then have someone pitch behind them. As we go through this process throughout the year, we'll be fluid. So to say like that won't happen or will happen ... I wouldn't discount either one of them."

Which is to say nothing of Contreras, who absolutely ought to be starting every game he's in the majors, even if that's only the case on an emergency basis because of Duane Underwood's injury and a crunch on the 40-man roster. He was set up to go in long relief of Brubaker in this one and, despite having his first welcome-to-the-big-leagues moment courtesy of Hunter Renfroe in the seventh ...

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... the kid still did what he does, lighting up the gun at a consistent 97 mph, striking out five and not allowing a baserunner.

Utilizing that in mopup for Brubaker makes no sense. Not under any circumstance. It's false fluidity, to be kind, if the starters are killing the starts.

Might Shelton and/or management -- any major move involving a top prospect would involve Ben Cherington and staff -- just put Contreras in the obvious role sooner rather than later?

"Yeah, I mean, I don't know what we'll do moving forward with Ro," Shelton responded to that question, this one after the game. "But you know, at some point, I think, he's gonna start for us. I'm not saying it's gonna be in the immediate future, but I think we view him as a starter."

They do more than "think" that. Never over-edit anyone speaking spontaneously.

But that immediate future's looking more immediate by the day.

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Christian Yelich and the Brewers celebrate victory Tuesday night in Milwaukee.

• To reiterate, Brubaker wasn't awful. Apart from the second, he gave up nothing. No runs. No hits. No walks. And he recorded half of his 12 outs in those other innings by strikeout, using his full arsenal.

I asked about that:

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"It just shows that 3-4-5 is the way I need to pitch," Brubaker would say, referring to the innings. "And I know that that's how I need to attack guys. I just need to be able to get back in the zone quicker than what I did."

So, what went awry in the second? A specific pitch?

"No, no specific pitch. Just kind of lost it."

• Burnes was exceptional, as one might expect of the majors' ERA leader in 2021. Seven innings, 10 strikeouts, zero walks, and a lot of hitters shaking a lot of heads:

"So crisp the whole night," Craig Counsell would say of his ace. "This was his best start of the year. I thought he was really on with his stuff."

• Of far greater interest to Pittsburghers, Counsell also brought up Contreras, on his own, and not once but twice.

"He’s throwing really hard and throwing his breaking ball for strikes," Counsell would say. "He was impressive."

Here's betting Counsell was delighted to encounter him in a mopup role.

• Outstanding as Burnes was, below is video proof of the two home runs hit off him, the first by former teammate Daniel Vogelbach, smartly waiting out the cutter Burnes had been pounding ...

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... and the other from, um, Josh VanMeter?

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"I feel like he threw the ball really well, 95-98 on either side," Vogelbach would say of Burnes. "But I also feel like we had some pretty good swings."

Anyone still fussing over Vogelbach at leadoff?

It's odd, without question, to see a 270-pound dude step up there first, especially for those of us who learned baseball by watching Omar Moreno antelope his way around the bases upon reaching. But things change, and Vogelbach's now at .323/.382/.548 with two home runs, and that includes going 8 for 24 with both home runs and all three RBIs in the six games that he's led off.

"He’s had really good at-bats,” Shelton said. “He’s been consistent, probably right at the top of our consistent at-bats that we’ve had throughout the first 11 games.”

• VanMeter, the 27-year-old utilityman with the .212 career average, had most of those "pretty good swings" Vogelbach mentioned, grounding out hard to third, lining a single, and then the home run.

He's 3 for 13 now, but ...

"From talking to Andy, he's felt like they've made some adjustments," Shelton said, referring to Andy Haines, his hitting coach. "And there've been things in his swing that have clicked, Andy’s been pushing hard, and things are working in the right direction."

• Remember when I used to call this place the House of Horrors and nothing but?

Still applies, maybe more than ever: The Pirates are 60-118 here since it opened in 2001, including 5-19 since 2019.

• Through 10 games at Class AAA Indianapolis, Oneil Cruz is slashing .194/.293/.306 with no home runs and as many strikeouts (11) as he has hits (7) and walks (4) combined. That includes an 0-for-4 on this same night in Indy against Columbus. This won't hold up, of course. He's way too talented. But maybe it's OK that he's there now.

• Two minutes I had on the field before this game with Keller, the starter in the series finale Wednesday:

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• Thanks for reading my baseball stuff.

THE ESSENTIALS

Boxscore
Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard

THE HIGHLIGHTS

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THE INJURIES

10-day injured list: OF Anthony Alford (hand), LHP Sam Howard (back), RHP Duane Underwood (hamstring), RHP Max Kranick (forearm)

60-day injured list: OF Greg Allen (hamstring), RHP Blake Cederlind (UCL), RHP Nick Mears (elbow surgery)

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Daniel Vogelbach, DH
2. Brian Reynolds, CF
3. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
4. Yoshi Tsutsugo, 1B
5. Ben Gamel, LF
6. Josh VanMeter, 2B
7. Cole Tucker, RF
8. Roberto Perez, C
9. Kevin Newman, SS

And for Counsell's Crew:

1. Kolten Wong, 2B
2. Willy Adames, SS
3. Christian Yelich, LF
4. Andrew McCutchen, DH
5. Rowdy Tellez, 1B
6. Hunter Renfroe, RF
7. Jace Peterson, 3B
8. Lorenzo Cain, CF
9. Victor Caratini, C

THE SCHEDULE

One more. Series finale's first pitch is 1:40 p.m. Eastern. Keller takes on Brandon Woodruff. I'm here for it.

THE CONTENT

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