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: Duane Underwood Jr.

Position: Pitcher

Throws: Right

Bats: Right

Age: 27

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 210 pounds

2021 MLB statistics: Underwood was 2-3 with a 4.33 ERA and 1.43 WHIP in 72 2/3 innings over 43 appearances.

Contract: Not eligible for arbitration until 2023.

Acquired: From the Chicago Cubs in a trade for minor league outfielder Shendrik Apostel.

This past season: The Pirates made no secret they liked Underwood’s stuff — a four-seam fastball, sinker, changeup, curveball and a new slider — when they acquired him in the middle of spring training.

Underwood, a 2012 second-round pick who was ranked among the Cubs’ top 10 prospects three times, believed that five-pitch repertoire made him a candidate to be a starting pitcher.

Newest Pirate Duane Underwood Jr says he wants to be a starting pitcher and hopes to prove he can pic.twitter.com/0kV7sjMgGz

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) March 12, 2021

“I think I have a lot of talent,” Underwood said. “I think I can strive for either a starting role or a role in the bullpen. Really whatever this team needs. I’ve had success at both, but I feel like I’ve really worked hard. I think I can start. I think there are a lot of innings in this arm, a lot of really good innings. I want to prove myself.”

The Pirates had other ideas. They had a deep corps of starters but didn’t expect any of them to be ready to go deep into games. So the Pirates wanted to use Underwood in a relief role.

“We like his stuff and how it might play off in the bullpen,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. “He’s always thrown hard. He’s used both a two- and four-seam fastball and that’s something that’s kind of been a development thing for him, figuring out what his fastball is. We like the sinker. The slider is a pitch he’s been working on. More recently, we see good potential with both those pitches, but he does have enough other weapons that potentially you could get through a lineup once or be used in sort of multi-inning role.”

By early September, when he was placed on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation, Underwood had pitched more innings than any other Pirates reliever. His 72 2/3 innings in 43 appearances were double his total in 30 appearances over three seasons with the Cubs.

Underwood made an impressive Pirates debut in a 5-3 win over the Cubs on Opening Day at Wrigley Field, striking out the side in the fourth inning on 18 pitches. He replaced starter Chad Kuhl with a 3-2 lead and got Javier Baez on a changeup, Jason Heyward on a heater and David Bote on a curveball.

“I knew this matchup was coming since I got traded,” Underwood said. “It was exciting to go against those guys. Those are great hitters, man. … Shoot, just from facing those guys for years of live BPs, I got to watch a lot of those guys grow up in that organization, as I did. I got to face Javy. I got to face Bote. Me and Bote got drafted together, so I had a lot of time over the years to face those hitters and felt confident in my game, and I knew I could get those guys out.”

Duane Underwood Jr., Filthy 81mph Curveball...and Flying Sword. ⚔️???? pic.twitter.com/Nqcsr6cn2v

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 23, 2021

While Underwood found comfort in sticking with his sinker-changeup-curveball mix, he believes the development of the slider sharpened his curve. Underwood felt the slider made his curve quicker and tighter and generated more swings and misses.

“It is a pitch I’m continuously working on, and it’s coming together quite well,” Underwood said, “but as far as pitch mix, I like the three-pitch combo I’ve got right now, and the slider throws another wrench in the hitter’s head, but I’m going to go with what I have success with right now and use that as a ‘get out of jail free’ card.”

Underwood got 67 strikeouts and gave up 27 walks, finishing with per-nine-inning rates of 8.1 and 3.3, respectively. With the increased workload, his strikeout rate went down, from 30.7% in 2020 to 20.3% last season, while his walk rate went up, from 6.8% to 8.4%.

What didn’t change was this: When Underwood didn’t get swings and misses, he gave up home runs. That was the knock on him with the Cubs, as he allowed eight homers in 36 1/3 innings. Underwood gave up nine homers, an average of one every five games.

But Underwood pitched multiple innings 23 times, including three games with three-plus innings in late May.

His season ended the same place it began, as Underwood left a 7-6 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley with right shoulder inflammation on Sept. 4 and was shut down for the remainder of the season.

The future: Underwood’s ability to serve in a multi-inning role allowed the Pirates to move Chris Stratton into a high-leverage role.

That makes Underwood more valuable going into next season, especially with the release of Cody Ponce, who signed to play in Japan.

Underwood, however, should expect competition this spring. The Pirates traded Gold Glove catcher Jacob Stallings to the Miami Marlins for three players, and right-hander Zach Thompson also could fill a multi-inning role if he doesn’t make the starting rotation.

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