'I think everyone’s going to know his name:' Oviedo making mark in starter audition

ST. LOUIS -- Johan Oviedo did not have to get his way out of many jams Friday night at Busch Stadium, but the Pirate pitcher's greatest Houdini trick came from his catcher.

With Paul Goldschmidt on third and Nolan Arenado at first with nobody out, the Cardinals still had the heart of their order up to finally open the scoring in the fourth inning. Oviedo had been mixing his pitches all night, but with his back against the wall, Austin Hedges had a simplified attack plan.

“Just feeling out the situation, I have confidence in all four of his pitches, it felt like the time to spin," Hedges told me.

Oviedo did start to spin it. Curveball, slider, slider to Willson Contreras. Strikeout. Curveball, slider, slider to Nolan Gorman. Strikeout. And then a curveball to Tyler O'Neill, which was lifted lazily to the outfield. Inning over.

And while the effort would end up being in vain, as the Cardinals would go on to beat the Pirates 3-0, Oviedo spun a seven-inning gem, perhaps the best start of the season behind, well, when he took the ball Sunday. In fact, if you're willing to look past that first inning against the Red Sox, he's allowed just one run over 17 1/3 innings his last three starts.

But talking to him postgame, the usually exuberant right-hander was far more subdued than you would expect a 25-year-old pitcher who made another statement start that he belongs in the rotation would be. Of course it was in a losing effort, so music wouldn't be blaring or any parties, but it would be understandable if he could at least be high on his individual performance. 

Perhaps it's because it was against the Cardinals, Oviedo's former club. He already got a couple cracks at them at the end of last season, and while he pitched pretty well, he didn't get a win. It was unspoken, but it seems a very safe assumption that a win against a team that never gave him an extended look as a starter and ultimately traded him last July for Chris Stratton and two months of José Quintana would like to show his old club what they let go.

"Definitely last year was a little bit emotional," Oviedo said. "But right now, I have good friends in there. But it’s just another team to beat. If we win, just want to keep moving forward for now."

If the opponent was motivation, Oviedo at least gave them a look at what the next couple years could be like in the Pirates' rotation. For someone who didn't have a rotation spot before JT Brubaker hit the injured list just before the regular season started, he's made that transition as soft a landing for the team as possible. 

Plus, and perhaps more important, is it looks like he can play the part, including pumping a 99 mph pitch for his 71st pitch of the evening. Two pitches later, he froze Alec Burleson with 98 mph heat.

“He’s humongous, so he already has that presence on the mound," Hedges said. "He’s throwing almost 100, and he can land curveballs and sliders and changeups. If he keeps pitching like that, I think everyone’s going to know his name.

"If he keeps pitching like that, I think everyone’s going to know his name."

That somehow seems possible if he keeps doing stuff like this:

Those were just four of the seven whiffs Oviedo got with his slider in his career-best 10 strikeout night. He showed in that fourth inning he can rely on just break, getting the bottom to drop some days, like Friday, or get more horizontal movement others.

"I think that [is the key]," Derek Shelton said. "The slider was elite. I think we saw him get some really weak contact and weak swings off it. He was really sharp."

It's one day, but that slider was elite. It can be a plus pitch, too, if he is able to throw it and his other pitches for strikes. That has been drilled into pitchers all year from the coaching team.

"The trend of him really out-stuffing guys in the zone is what we’re trying to preach with him," Oscar Marin said. "He’s actually been a little bit better than that."

That's part of the maturation of a young pitcher. So is being able to identify that home plate umpire Lance Barksdale's strike zone was wide, so keep peppering the ball on the hand side:

Credit goes to Hedges for framing those for strikes and the calls, but he executed the pitches, and not by overthinking it.

"[I] just try to have fun and not think about results or anything," Oviedo said. "I think that’s been huge for me."

MORE FROM THE GAME

• The only run Oviedo allowed came when Connor Joe bobbled a ground ball to him in the sixth, forcing him to take the sure out at first instead of get the force out at second. Nolan Gorman followed with a base hit for Oviedo's one blemish.

Duane Underwood Jr. let two more score in the eighth to give the Cardinals plenty of insurance.

• The offense didn't help Oviedo out, but it wasn't because they were overmatched. Pirate hitters had 12 batted balls that had an exit velocity of over 100 mph, but just two singles and a double to show for it.

"We had really bad luck today," Shelton said. "If you look at the balls hit hard in that game, I bet we hit more balls hard than they did."

For comparison, the Cardinals just had two balls that were hit at least 100 mph on the night. And not that exit velocity is the only measure of hitting, balls hit over 100 mph have a slugging percentage of 1.247, according to Baseball Savant. It was a day where the hard contact just didn't come through and the Cardinals converted on defense.

"They catch the baseball," Shelton said. "We know that, they played really good defense tonight and that was the difference in the game."

• Hedges was activated off of the 7-day concussion injured list before the game, as was Robert Stephenson from the 15-day IL, who got the final two outs of the eighth inning.

"Physically, I felt great this whole rehab process," Stephenson said, referencing his elbow, before the game. "Obviously it's just a matter of getting built up where I feel comfortable getting into games and having them be able to use me however they want to use me. But I'm just excited to be back and pitching in big-league games again because nothing beats this atmosphere."

To make room for them on the roster, Tyler Heineman was optioned to Class AAA Indianapolis, and reliever Chase De Jong was placed on the 15-day IL with a lumbar spine muscle strain. That strain occurred after he got ready alongside Dauri Moreta in Wednesday's loss to the Astros. Moreta went into the game, and when De Jong sat back down, he felt a spasm and his back locked up.

"I’ve been trying to stay off of prescription pills post-surgery and stuff," De Jong said. "I’m back on one that, in the past, has worked well for me. They think it’s going to correct itself very soon. Just doing some exercises with the training staff, making sure that everything is 100%."

• Ji-Man Choi was a late scratch with left posterior ankle discomfort. He said it's been an on-and-off thing for a bit, and it flared up while taking ground balls. 

"I feel like it's nothing too serious," Choi said via interpreter Daniel Park. "It's just a little discomfort on the back of the ankle."

It'll be evaluated Saturday to see if he needs a couple days off.

• I ate this and lived to tell the tale:

ME, OBVIOUSLY

I do not want to know about the caloric intake.

That is fried chicken and special sauce on a donut bun with bacon sprinkles on top. Because of course it needed bacon.

It was fine. Not great, just fine. About as fine as you would expect a fried chicken-donut sandwich to be. I don't know if I need to get it again.

This is also my way of saying this was a pretty quiet ballgame outside of Oviedo.

• Time of game: Two hours, 17 minutes. Praise be to the pitch clock.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 15-day injured list: RHP Chase De Jong (lumbar spine)

• 60-day injured list: RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow)

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Ji Hwan Bae, SS
2. Bryan Reynolds, LF
3. Andrew McCutchen, DH
4. Connor Joe, 1B
5. Jack Suwinski, CF
6. Rodolfo Castro, 3B
7. Canaan Smith-Njigba, RF
8. Mark Mathias, 2B
9. Austin Hedges, C

And for Oliver Marmol's Cardinals:

1. Brendan Donovan, 2B
2. Alec Burleson, RF
3. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
4. Nolaln Arenado, 3B
5. Wilson Contreras, C
6. Nolan Gorman, DH
7. Tyler O'Neill, LF
8. Dylan Carlson, CF
9. Tommy Edman, SS

THE SCHEDULE

Game three of this four game set will be between Roansy Contreras (1-1, 8.00) and Steven Matz (0-2, 8.18). First pitch is set for 2:15 p.m. Eastern. See you there.

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