TAMPA -- Carmen Mlodzinski learned that he had won the camp competition for the final spot in the Pirates¡¯ rotation early last week. But he had been preparing for his chance to prove that he can be a bona fide starter for much longer than that.
¡°I think he mentally started approaching it last year in September, when we sat down and he expressed the desire to start,¡± manager Derek Shelton said prior to the Pirates¡¯ 6-1 loss to the Rays on Monday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field. ¡°We expressed, ¡®All right, let's go.¡¯¡±
Mlodzinski got that first chance in the opener of a three-game set against the Rays. The results were decidedly mixed as an impressive first three innings were followed by a four-run fourth that put Pittsburgh in an inescapable hole en route to a 1-4 start to the season.
¡°The confidence I am going to take away is those first three innings were solid,¡± Mlodzinski said. ¡°I felt like I executed what I wanted to do. ... The side that sucks is the fourth inning.¡±
A first-round pick by the Pirates (No. 31 overall) in the 2020 MLB Draft, Mlodzinski had been used almost solely as a reliever through two Major League seasons. Five of his 75 appearances were technically starts, but Mlodzinski was just an opener, typically out of the game after two innings at most. He wanted something more.
Monday¡¯s game was a stage for him to show that he can be a valuable asset in this rotation, something the Pirates need with Jared Jones and Johan Oviedo on the injured list and without a timetable for a return.
There were certainly bright spots in Mlodzinski¡¯s 3 2/3 innings against Tampa Bay. The right-hander came out of the gate firing, reaching up to 98.3 mph with his four-seamer in the first inning. He struck out Brandon Lowe on an elevated heater at 97 mph and then finished off a clean opening frame by dotting a 90 mph slider on the outside corner to get Junior Caminero looking.
That power fastball and slider were already in Mlodzinski¡¯s arsenal when he was coming out of the bullpen. To excel in this new role, Mlodzinski needed to add to his arsenal, and he did so this spring, incorporating a sinker and a splitter. It was a sinker in the second inning that was one of his best pitches of the game.
After giving up a leadoff single, Mlodzinski threw a 96 mph sinker down-and-in to Christopher Morel. If he didn¡¯t swing at it, it still would've been a strike. But Morel took a hack and rolled over into a 6-4-3 double play.
¡°I think that¡¯s going to help me with efficiency, no doubt,¡± Mlodzinski said of his sinker. ¡°You saw it with that double play. I think that¡¯s something I can adjust going to the second and third time through -- where am I going to use that?¡±
Mlodzinski dealt with traffic in the third inning, but he was able to strand runners on second and third by getting Lowe to whiff at another elevated fastball, this one at 96.8 mph.
"I think through the spring, we saw him not only increase in velocity, but saw him maintain the velocity, which was something that really made us feel confident that he can be a starting pitcher,¡± Shelton said. ¡°It wasn't one time through the order; we saw it maintain in the fourth inning, fifth inning in Spring Training."
A lack of execution and hints of fatigue in Monday¡¯s fourth inning led to a quick end to Mlodzinski¡¯s night. The frame began with the Rays racking up four consecutive hits, although none of them would be classified as hard hit. Morel¡¯s RBI single through the left side came off a sweeper that broke his bat.
But whereas Mlodzinski was hitting the corners with regularity through the first three innings, his pitches in the fourth caught too much of the plate. It was indicative of a hurler who is being stretched out for the first time in the big leagues. Mlodzinski threw 66 pitches against the Rays. He had not exceeded 48 pitches in any previous regular-season game. This is a work in progress.
¡°Those first three innings, he looked really sharp,¡± Shelton said. ¡°It's going to be one of those things, as he starts navigating a second time through and possibly a third time through, is where possibly the pitch execution has to stay sharp."
¡°That¡¯s why the starting pitchers make the money -- because it¡¯s hard,¡± Mlodzinski said. ¡°... But this is something to learn off of.¡±