Pittsburgh Pirates Find Pitching Help from an Unexpected Source

When the Pirates signed Phil Dumatrait to compete for a spot as a long reliever, I didn’t think much of it. When he made the roster and had an average first month in that role, I didn’t think much of it.

When Dumatrait was named as the replacement after starter Matt Morris was waived, I still didn’t think much of it. It’s just a short-term solution, one of the AAA pitchers will take that spot in the rotation soon, I figured.

Now, when Dumatrait takes the ball every fifth day, I think a whole lot of it.

He’s earned that.

Dumatrait, who before this year never had any success as a starting pitcher—almost everyone associated with the Pirates is familiar with his stats, in particular the 15.00 ERA he recorded as a starter last year with the Reds—has emerged as the most consistent Pittsburgh starter since he toed the rubber against the Washington Nationals on May 2.

In his eight starts, Dumatrait has posted a 3.22 ERA while striking out 33 in 44.2 innings pitched. Most importantly, the Pirates are 6-2 in those games.

While he is by no means an ace (it’s hard to be considered an ace when you are averaging less than six innings per start), Dumatrait had played a huge role as the stabilizing force for a Pittsburgh rotation that has essentially been turned upside-down this year.

Projected aces Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny have been awful, while Zach Duke has rebounded from a horrid 2007 season to post solid numbers this year. The only pitcher whose performance has been somewhat near his expectations is Paul Maholm, who was expected to be the third-best starter on the team and is, even though everyone thought he would pitch better than the current No. 1 and No. 2.

So how has Dumatrait defied the odds? To be honest, I don’t know. I never saw him pitch for the Reds, and after watching him several times this year, I have no idea how he was ever that bad. He was the Red Sox’ first-round pick in 2000, so he has always had talent.

Pittsburgh's pitching coach Jeff Andrews credits Dumatrait’s newfound success to his adding a changeup to his arsenal during the spring. I’m sure this has a lot to do with it, and would help explain his vast improvement between last year and this year.

But I think there is more that the other Pirate starters can learn from Dumatrait’s recent good play. Quite frankly, it looks like he is trying a lot less harder than Snell and Gorzelanny. He is confident in his stuff, is hitting the zone, and is letting his defense keep runs off the board and win games.

Sure, he has had his command problems, but what’s different about Dumatrait is that when he has command problems, he just can’t hit the zone at all. It’s not that he’s trying to make the perfect pitch and failing—it’s a physical breakdown, not a psychological one.

At least for Snell, the problem appears to be psychological. He will pitch three or four good innings, only to give runs away in the next because he tries to throw eight perfect sliders in a row.

I continue to believe—and hope—that the problem facing Snell is fixable. For one, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that since Jack Wilson returned and greatly improved the Pirates’ team defense, the starting pitching has been markedly better. Even Snell and Gorzelanny put together slightly above average starts their last times out.

In Dumatrait, Pirate pitchers have a first-hand example of someone who righted the ship. They also have someone who will bail them out the next day if they have a bad start.

Two months ago, who would have thought that would be the case?