'Felt good to feel good': September brings bullpen reinforcements

CLEVELAND -- Coming off of the mound for the first time in his second rehab assignment, Ryan Borucki smiled.

After spending most of this year on the shelf, trying to rehab back from triceps inflammation and the frustrations of the ups and downs of his left arm, for the first time since April, he felt like himself when walking back to the dugout again.

“It just felt good to feel good,” Borucki said in Progressive Field’s visitors’ clubhouse pregame Sunday. “When you're so used to just, every pitch you throw having pain, the stress level that you wake up every day and are like, 'Is today going to feel good?' And then you play catch and it doesn't feel good. Just that constant reminder. It was finally, through a pitch, through an outing, it felt great. I was like, 'Wow, this is what it actually feels like to be able to pitch normally again.'”

On Sunday, the Pirates finally welcomed back two of their most valuable 2023 relievers to their fold, activating Borucki and Colin Holderman from the injured list. Borucki ended up getting into his first game since April 5, tossing an inning in the Pirates’ 6-1 loss to the Guardians.

Getting both back will be a huge boost for a bullpen that’s in search of reliable arms. On the year, the Pirates bullpen has produced a 4.64 ERA, the fourth-highest in baseball, and taken 30 losses, tied for the most in the National League.

Injuries are a big part of those struggles, including losing Borucki for most of the season. He was one of the highlights of last year’s bullpen, recording a 2.45 ERA and excelling against left-handed hitters. He was placed on the injured list on April 7 for what was originally thought to be a short stint to nip a potential bigger injury in the bud, but as Borucki started to work his way back, there usually was pain or discomfort to set him back.

What was supposed to be maybe a matter of weeks turned into months, and while the Pirates remained optimistic he would come back throughout, the southpaw wasn’t as sure.

“For a while I didn't think I was going to come back this year,” Borucki said. “There were a lot of dark days, but I'm happy I had a good support staff. Everybody helped me out. I'm just really, really excited to get back out there."

And when he gets out there, he is going to be at what he considers full strength.

"My arm feels as strong as ever,” Borucki said. “I'm ready to go. I feel as good as I did right at the end of Spring Training and at the beginning of the season. Full go. Feels great. Recovering really well, so I'm excited."

A healthy Holderman would also be a boost. He was excellent most of the season, recording a 1.67 ERA through July 24 in mostly leverage spots. Things quickly went sideways over his last five outings, though, taking four losses and allowing 11 runs over 4 1/3 innings, compared to just 10 runs allowed through his first 39 outings.

Holderman has been dealing with a wrist injury on and off all year, and it got to a point where he couldn’t deal with it anymore and he needed to go on the injured list. After getting some anti-inflammatories and some time off, now he wants to end the year with a much better taste in his mouth.

“I just want to establish who I am and who I was most of the year,” Holderman said. “That stretch we had there in the middle, that was the old me. That wasn't me. That wasn't who I could be and what I could offer for the team. I feel like I'm back to normal and ready to roll."

Injuries are obviously part of the game, but that doesn’t make it any easier for players to deal with them. The good news is after dealing with that discomfort for an extended period of time, there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

“When you're by yourself when you're hurt, it can get pretty dark,” Borucki said. “You feel like there are no answers. This was probably the toughest year of my career, mentally, because I didn't have answers for a while. I'm just really, really grateful. I told myself yesterday that 'whatever happens, happens.' I'm just grateful to just be pitching again with no pain. That's all I really care about."