Bullpen remains source of strength for Pirates during slump

Dauri Moreta put an exclamation point on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ win Wednesday afternoon in Detroit by striking out the side in the bottom of the ninth.

He followed Robert Stephenson and Jose Hernandez — who pitched a scoreless inning each and struck out a pair — in the 8-0 win over the Tigers at Comerica Park, a game anchored by a quality start from Rich Hill.

After the game, manager Derek Shelton praised the performance of his bullpen, which posted a collective stat line of three innings pitched, zero hits allowed, one walk (by Stephenson) and seven strikeouts.

“(Moreta) has been good,” Shelton told reporters in Detroit. “Came in, did a good job, (Stephenson) came in, did a good job and Jose did a good job, too. Overall, it was a very well-played game.”

Moreta (1-0, 2.25 ERA) has not been impervious to bumps in the road this year, but in the Pirates’ ongoing slump through May — during which the team has gone 3-11 — he hasn’t allowed a run in six games and 8⅓ innings.

With his performance Wednesday, he also notably increased his lead in strikeouts among all Pittsburgh relievers to 29 in 21 innings pitched.

Stephenson allowed runs in eventual one-run losses May 4 and 10 but still owns a 1.64 ERA through 13 appearances.

Despite some recent slip-ups in high-leverage situations, Stephenson, who started the season on the injured list, is second on the Pirates in holds (6) trailing only setup man Colin Holderman, who has nine.

“I love that they trust me,” Stephenson said. “They kind of threw me in early, and it’s great because it just got me used to it, and coming off the IL and kind of getting right into it, just got my feet wet and I feel really comfortable already being in that role. I’ll throw whenever they want me to throw, but I love where they’re using me right now.”

Hernandez struggled (7.94 ERA in May) over the last few weeks but has a 3.12 ERA on the year.

Another key piece of the reliever puzzle has been Yohan Ramirez, who has been used sparingly since his mid-April call-up from Triple-A Indianapolis (eight appearances) but has a 1.46 ERA with 15 strikeouts and six walks through 12 1/3 innings.

Moreta, Stephenson and Hernandez are the tip of the spear of a bullpen, which, despite having some share of culpability in the club’s ongoing slump, has remained a primary source of strength.

After Wednesday’s win, the bullpen’s season ERA sat at 3.49, good for sixth in baseball.

“We’ve talked over the years of building a bullpen that has interchangeable parts — because you see the elite bullpens, the ones that the Yankees built, the Astros built or the Rays built — there’s multiple looks, multiple angles. There’s multiple weapons,” Shelton said. “That’s been something we’ve continued to talk about as a group.”

As for the bullpens of New York, Houston and Tampa Bay, Shelton is right on the money: those three clubs are currently among the few in the MLB (along with Cleveland and Baltimore) that boast lower ERAs than that of the Pirates.

While Moreta, Stephenson and Hernandez have proven to be reliable “interchangeable parts” of the Pirates’ bullpen, as Shelton put it, the face and, arguably, soul of the group is closer David Bednar.

“It’s been a good group so far,” Bednar said. “We have a lot of fun down there. Everybody has confidence in everybody. As soon as the phone rings, everybody’s ready to do a good job. We have a really good group and a lot of talented arms down there. We’re truly a family, and we’re a very tight-knit group. Everybody’s pulling for each other.”

Bednar’s glove has been collecting dust as of late, with the closer receiving limited chances to enter games given the Pirates’ woes over the last several weeks.

His last opportunity to record a save came April 29 against the Nationals. Since then, he has made only three appearances, none being a save situation. Still, Bednar’s nine saves ranks seventh across the MLB.

His fastball-curveball approach continues to give batters trouble, as Bednar (2-0, 0.56 ERA) has struck out 21 in 16 innings, compared to just one walk.

Bednar has formed a formidable late-game relief partnership with Colin Holderman (0-1, 2.81 ERA), who complements a biting sinker usually thrown at 98 mph, per Statcast, with a cutter and sweeper, the latter of which he began implementing during spring training.

The Pirates’ bullpen has suffered its fair share of mishaps, be it injuries (Rob Zastryzny, Wil Crowe), less-than-ideal stretches (Duane Underwood Jr., 8.59 ERA in May) or significant performance issues (Chase De Jong, designated for assignment May 9).

But through it all, the club’s relievers have been largely reliable.

“It’s fun to watch them go to work,” Bednar said of his fellow relievers. “They prepare themselves well to go into games, and they’ve got nasty stuff. So, honestly, to see them do their thing, get ready to go and go watch the show, everybody hands the ball off to the next guy, and it’s been a big part for us.”