TAMPA, Fla. -- Bailey Falter and Joey Bart are in secure places, a change from previous springs in which they were in roster battles.
They had mixed results for the Pirates in a 12-3 loss to the Yankees on Monday night, but neither needs to look over their shoulder during his Grapefruit League season.
Falter, 27, is assured of being in the starting rotation. He allowed three runs in the second inning (two earned). But across 2 2/3 frames, he struck out four, including American League MVP Aaron Judge and Anthony Volpe.
Bart, 28, is the established starting catcher in Pittsburgh after previously struggling with the Giants to show that he was worth the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft. Bart¡¯s three-run home run in the third tied the game, and he was 2-for-2 with a walk.
Falter touched on the difference he¡¯s feeling after going 8-9 last year with a 4.43 ERA and showing enough to earn a spot in a rotation that includes Mitch Keller, Paul Skenes, Andrew Heaney and Jared Jones.
"I felt like every spring leading up to this one, I always kind of had a target on my back,¡± Falter said. ¡°It's nice to breathe a little bit, relax, actually work on some stuff and get ready for the season.
"All the other Spring Trainings, I pretty much came in here and I was fighting for a job."
When Derek Shelton was asked what he was looking to get from Falter prior to the game, the Pirates manager said: ¡°Just throw strikes and use his pitch mix. ¡ He¡¯s got to work on his process, work on his whole mix. ¡ We talk about results, but he still has to work on things in Spring Training.¡±
Added Falter: "The main thing was working on the slider and working on the curveball. I think the fastball is still in a great spot. I just had mechanical issues in the second [inning] that caused me to walk a few guys and throw the wild pitch. That can't happen. I was just a little out of sync. So we're going to have to check the film and we'll get back on track.
"I feel like [the breaking pitches] were a little bit better in the first game. I kind of got away with a little bit with them today. So that could've been just a little mechanical game, and I torqued my arm a little bit. ¡ Something I need to clean up a little bit."
Falter¡¯s biggest fix from this game was realizing a mechanical flaw when pitching out of the stretch. Falter had a 1-2-3 first inning, but then Volpe led off the second with a single and Trent Grisham walked after Bart and third baseman Enmanuel Valdez let a popup in foul territory drop between them.
"I never saw it,¡± Bart said of the popup. ¡°I saw it at the very end and I was telling him to take it. I lost it off the bat and couldn't find it. I've got to find a way to catch that ball. That's just as simple as it gets."
The inning unraveled from there, with Dominic Smith lining a two-run single and the third run coming home on a wild pitch.
"I think I was a little bit lower, stance-wise, out of the stretch compared to last game,¡± Falter said. ¡°[Pitching coach] Oscar [Marin] mentioned something to me during the game, so we tried to work on it in the third inning. Just got to work on it and see what we can come up with."
Falter was out of the stretch against his final batter, Volpe, who struck out swinging at a full-count slider. That was Falter¡¯s 49th pitch of the outing.
"He was really good,¡± Bart said of Falter. ¡°I for sure didn't help him [with the dropped foul ball]. We didn't help him. It's pretty unacceptable. I thought he threw the ball really well. All of tonight was just kind of sloppy."
The lone offensive highlight for Pittsburgh was provided by Bart, who crushed his first home run of the spring.
"Been ready to hit, turn it loose,¡± said Bart, who last season batted .265 with 13 homers and 45 RBI in 253 at-bats last season. ¡°This time of year, you're always trying to find your timing, trying to find your feel. Sometimes you just turn it loose, and, yeah, it felt good."