In just his second start since the Pirates' Grapefruit League opener, Carmen Mlodzinski admitted it was "just an OK day," however, he was very aware of where he went wrong and how he needs to fix it in preparation for the start of the regular season.

After allowing a leadoff home run to Dylan Carlson, Mlodzinski threw three innings of two-hit ball while walking two hitters and striking out three in the Pirates' 15-5 win over the Orioles this afternoon at LECOM Park. 

"I felt like I did execute some pitches when I needed to, but then I kinda fell into some counts because of some delivery based stuff, giving up a free base, then another free base," Mlodzinski said. "In general, the biggest thing I'm taking away is that I need to be more efficient. Pitch count ran a little high. I probably lost an inning of work just due to that. But the game definitely revealed some stuff to me today, that I can make adjustments on in the next outing."

Mlodzinski threw 64 pitches, 41 of which went for strikes and utilized five different pitches, including a new two-seam fastball that he's been working on this spring. It was a pitch he threw in college and with him attempting to stretch out into a starter, both he and the organization thought he needed to add another pitch to give hitters a different look.

He threw the pitch 12 times today, his third-most used pitch behind his fastball and slider and was getting contact with the pitch but not enough. Of his 64 pitches, 18 were fouled off and a third of those were the two-seam fastball.

"Today, I had a lot of foul balls on it, instead of ground ball outs," Mlodzinski said. "Honestly, that probably cost me a solid inning of work, just from foul balls today. The two walks don't help, but those were more delivery based, versus the foul balls, which kept stacking and stacking. A lot of that was from the two-seam that I was throwing. I was throwing it from strike to ball today, not getting hard contact on it. Guys weren't hitting it hard, but it wasn't enough of the bat to get the pitch in play and be able to get a quick out." 

After starting in the Pirates' Grapefruit League opener against the Orioles on Feb. 22, he's appeared in four games, including today's, and has thrown at least two innings every time. Today was his first time completing three full innings. He gave up two runs on three hits in his last outing against the Red Sox, but he's getting more comfortable with preparing for whatever role he may be in.

As long as his volume is up, Mlodzinski will be able to fill any role the Pirates need him in, whether that's as an opener, a long-relief guy or a pitcher who can work in high-leverage situations. He feels like he's in a good spot. 

"I think being in the bullpen the past few years versus coming up as a starter in the minors and actually having a bullpen routine has helped me to a degree in terms of what I'm doing in between starts to help my body, and help me feel better every day," Mlodzinski said. "All in all, I feel pretty good this spring, with being extended."

While Mlodzinski pitched at the major-league level last season, he's not a complete lock to make the team's opening day roster. Most of the bullpen has been lights out this spring. Non-roster invites like Ryan Borucki and Tanner Rainey, along with pitchers on the 40-man roster like Justin Lawrence and Peter Strzelecki, who has really only had one bad outing, have made a strong push. That may leave Mlodzinski on the outside looking in.

The 26-year-old right-hander does have two options left so he could start the season with Class AAA Indianapolis, work in a starter's role and then get called up if the bullpen suffers an injury. Mlodzinski has made a case for a roster spot, but he might get a chance to continue to build his volume up in the minor leagues to start the season.