Pirates A to Z: After up-and-down season, Wil Crowe's final start showed growth as a pitcher

During the offseason, the Tribune-Review will offer Pirates A to Z: An alphabetical player-by-player look at the 40-man roster, from outfielder Anthony Alford to pitcher Miguel Yajure.

Player: Wil Crowe

Position: Pitcher

Throws: Right

Bats: Right

Age: 27

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 235 pounds

2021 MLB statistics: Crowe was 4-6 with a 5.48 ERA in 26 games, including 25 starts.

Contract: Not yet eligible for arbitration.

Acquired: From the Washington Nationals, along with Eddy Yean, in a trade for Josh Bell in December 2020.

This past season: As the major league-ready return on the Bell trade, Crowe came in confident that he could help the Pirates’ pitching staff, whether or not he cracked the starting rotation.

“They traded for me for a reason,” Crowe said. “They gave up a good player, but they also think they got a good player back. And all I can do is go out there and show them that I’m a big leaguer and I can help the team win. And I’m just going to go out there every day and work my tail off and do whatever I can to help the team win. That’s all I can do.”

Crowe couldn’t do much for the first month of the season. After pitching out of the bullpen in his Pirates debut — giving up one run on one hit and two walks while striking out two in the seventh inning of a 5-1 loss at the Chicago Cubs — he was optioned to the alternate training site.

It wasn’t until Chad Kuhl went on the injured list with right shoulder discomfort that Crowe got his chance to become a starter. He ended up leading the Pirates with 25 starts, one more than JT Brubaker and two more than Mitch Keller.

The Pirates lost six of his first nine starts, including a 4-1 loss to the Cubs on May 26 when he lasted only 1 1/3 innings. After starting three games for the Nationals in 2020, Crowe didn’t earn his first major league victory until the 13th start of his career.

“Not a lot of people have wins in the big leagues,” Crowe said, “and the modern stat people might not care or whatever. I don’t care. It’s a ‘W,’ and I get to say that I won a big league game, and that’s awesome. And no one can take that away from me.”

It came in a 5-4 win at St. Louis on June 25, even as Crowe allowed four runs on eight hits and two walks and surrendered a pair of home runs. Crowe gave up a career-most 11 baserunners through the first four innings, but Pirates manager Derek Shelton sent him out for the fifth to qualify for the win. Crowe responded with a perfect inning.

“That fifth inning for me was a big growing moment, a big opportunity,” Crowe said. “My tank is almost empty and for me, it’s just bear down.”

That became Crowe’s trademark, as he brought a bulldog mentality to the mound — along with much-needed durability. The Pirates won eight of his final 15 starts, even though he was never dominant.

“I think it’s 100% about creating an identity and that goes for any player that we have up here,” Shelton said. “You want them to create their own identity amongst the group and within the culture but that is extremely important. I think that Wil had some real signs of growth this year. It was not a steady line across. There was some bumps in the road and things he really did and took to it.”

Wil Crowe, Nasty 82mph Curveball...and Sword. ⚔️

Barnhart doesn't need your silly appeal...though it would've been funny if it was ruled no swing. pic.twitter.com/uFiTtttD1y

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 1, 2021

The future: As evident in Shelton’s season-ending assessment, the Pirates were impressed by Crowe’s growth over the course of the season so it’s likely he’s penciled in as a starting pitcher for next season.

Crowe’s tempo was an issue all season. When he took too much time between pitches, it affected his ability to repeat his delivery and execute. Despite preferring to pitch on gut instinct, he learned that controlling his breathing helped him keep a better pace.

With a five-pitch repertoire, Crowe leans more heavily on his four-seam fastball, slider and changeup than he does his sinker and curveball. Opponents hit the fastball for a .328 average and nine homers, so he has some fine-tuning to do to make it more effective. The changeup drew a 36.6% whiff rate and became his put-away pitch.

Wil Crowe, Nasty 84mph Changeup. ????

8Ks thru 5. pic.twitter.com/1vdCHW6UHV

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 2, 2021

The Pirates are counting on Crowe to build on his final start, which was his best of the season. He tossed six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out nine in a 9-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Oct. 1.

“The experience of having gone through a full season himself, the experience of making as many starts as he did,” Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin said. “It’s growth. It’s experience. It’s learning through those moments to be able to do what he did.

“That’s something we talked about when he was talking about game-planning. It was just, ‘Hey, you’ve got to be you today.’ If you’ve gone through all the processes, when you get into those moments, take a step back, take a breather then get back into it — and I think that’s exactly what he did.”