Pirates A to Z: Chad Kuhl started on Opening Day but ended season in the bullpen

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: Chad Kuhl

Position: Pitcher

Throws: Right

Bats: Right

Age: 29

Height: 6-foot-3

Weight: 205 pounds

2021 MLB statistics: Kuhl was 5-7 with a 4.82 ERA and 1.43 WHIP in 28 games, including 14 starts.

Contract: Kuhl earned $2.13 million in 2021 and enters his third year of arbitration eligibility.

Acquired: Selected by Pirates in ninth round of 2013 MLB Draft.

This past season: There was a parallel of how Kuhl pitched and why he went from Opening Day starter to being banished to the bullpen.

It was out of his control.

Kuhl started the 2021 season the way he ended the 2020 season, by providing one of the Pirates’ most uplifting storylines. After returning from Tommy John surgery to make his first start in two years, Kuhl won a war of attrition to become the Opening Day starter.

“It was pretty bad, obviously,” Kuhl said. “I missed all of ‘19 and was so anxiously waiting to get back in 2020. I thought I was going to have a return some time early 2020, then we were shut down because of the coronavirus. Didn’t get to pitch a full year. Haven’t pitched in front of my family since the end of 2018. So it was just things like that where being able to pitch in front of fans and my family in the stands, I think that’s going to be the most special part about this whole thing.”

With so much certainty about his career, Kuhl was rewarded as much for his perseverance as his pitching. Starting in front of his family was even better, considering Kuhl became the father of a baby boy.

“You never know where they’re going to go with everything, how it’s going to line up,” Kuhl said. “I was just fortunate, obviously, to have a happy, healthy baby and an amazing wife that’s taking care of him right now. Then to be fortunate enough to be on an Opening Day roster and for them to have confidence in me to hand the ball to Game 1.”

After Kuhl went 2-3 with a 4.27 ERA in 46 1/3 innings in 11 appearances (nine starts) while pitching in tandem with Steven Brault to start the shortened 2020 season, he was 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA over eight innings in four starts in Grapefruit League play. Meantime, Brault was injured and Mitch Keller struggled.

“No. 1, he’s throwing the ball well. No. 2, excited for a guy that’s been here to be able to do it. And I think that played a little bit of a role in it,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I feel like we’ve gotten him stretched out enough to do it and feel that he deserves to do it. So that was what it came down to.”

Kuhl allowed one earned run on one hit and three walks with two strikeouts in three innings in a 5-3 win over the Chicago Cubs, a satisfying start considering the cold weather. But he gave up at least three earned runs in five of his next six starts and eight of his first 13. In his first four starts, Kuhl had more walks (16) than strikeouts (14).

That improved over the course of the season, as Kuhl had 16 strikeouts to 12 walks in June and 23 strikeouts to seven walks in July. Kuhl’s slider was an effective putaway pitch, with a .228 batting average against and a 33.5% whiff rate, but hitters were batting .333 against his four-seamer and .304 against his sinker.

Chad Kuhl, Nasty 90mph Slider...and Sword. ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/7rZROZ415D

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 7, 2021

“The stuff plays. It’s just keeping the stuff on the plate. That’s the most important thing,” Shelton said. “When we’ve seen him struggle, it’s because he’s giving free passes. …We just need him to continue to attack people. That’s the biggest thing for Chad.”

But Kuhl tested positive for covid-19 and was placed on the 10-day injured list on Aug. 2, just as Brault returned to the rotation. Kuhl’s wife, Amanda, revealed on Aug. 4 that her husband and their 4-month-old son were in quarantine. Kuhl was out for two-plus weeks.

When he returned, it was in the bullpen. That was partly to build his arm back up after the layoff, but the Pirates made it clear that wasn’t the only reason. They wanted to see how he would fare in relief, given that scouts had viewed him as better suited for a high-leverage role.

“In Chad’s case, coming off the absence, we wanted to bring him back, first of all, safely and without a long rehab assignment and the bullpen was the safest way to do it,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. “He’s got really good stuff obviously, and we’re also interested to see what that would look like out of the bullpen, but we’re really just taking it a step at a time and we still are with him.”

Kuhl pitched in 14 games in both roles, going 3-6 with a 4.43 ERA and 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings as a starter and 2-1 with a 6.75 ERA and 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings as a reliever.

Those numbers were inflated by a rough outing at the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 2, when Kuhl blew a 3-0 lead by giving up five runs on six hits — including two doubles and two home runs — in one-third of an inning in a 6-5 loss. He rebounded to throw perfect innings in three of his next four appearances.

“I think part of the progression was just him obviously being on the covid-IL, and then him being able to come back and how much we were going to get from him,” Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin said. “The other thing, too, is just seeing how special some of his pitches are and what we wanted to see was maybe some of those flashes coming out of a leverage situation. I think in flashes we have seen that.”

Even as the Pirates lost one starter after another to injury in September, they told Kuhl he would remain in the bullpen through the end of the season. They used Connor Overton and Sam Howard as openers, and instead relied on rookies Max Kranick, Miguel Yajure and Roansy Contreras to make spot starts in late September.

“I think it was more about what they wanted to see out of me (as a reliever),” Kuhl told Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic in late September. “Whether I agree with it or not, it’s just one of those things I can’t control. It’s gonna be their decision moving forward.”

The future: Where Kuhl pitched better out of the bullpen than he did as a starter, it was a lost opportunity in some ways.

After the Pirates traded Richard Rodriguez to Atlanta at the deadline, they essentially had open tryouts for the closer role. Chris Stratton and David Bednar took advantage when Kuhl was on the covid-IL, and Kuhl ended up serving as a bridge instead of a high-leverage role.

Now, the Pirates have to decide what to do next, as he enters his final year of arbitration before becoming a free agent. MLBTradeRumors.com projected Kuhl to make $3 million, cheap for a starting pitcher but a steep price for a middle reliever.

That could make him a candidate for a non-tender, like Trevor Williams in 2020, if the Pirates prefer to protect prospects for the Rule 5 Draft.