Wil Crowe bringing bulldog mentality to Pirates' bullpen in becoming high-leverage reliever

When the Pittsburgh Pirates shifted Wil Crowe from the starting rotation to a relief role this past spring, the right-hander brought to the bullpen a brash attitude of greeting his opponents with a four-letter word.

And it wasn’t save or hold.

Not only did Crowe embrace the move but he’s adopted a bulldog mentality as he’s morphed from a multi-inning role into a high-leverage reliever whose pitch repertoire also has taken a dramatic turn. He’s as quick to direct an F-bomb at opponents as he is eager to chalk up a K against them.

“When I get on the mound, the guy that I’m facing is trying to take food off my plate. I don’t like that because that takes food off my wife’s plate, my son’s plate and my family’s plate,” Crowe said. “So when I go out there, it’s a ‘(expletive) you’ because they’re trying to take what’s mine. At the same time, they’re probably saying the same thing. It’s a personal thing to me. Just go out there, be aggressive and have fun but at the same time, they’re trying to take food off my plate so (expletive) them.”

Crowe considered how to feed his family when he was approached by manager Derek Shelton, pitching coach Oscar Marin, bullpen coach Justin Meccage and analyst Jeremy Bleich in spring training about moving to the bullpen. After leading Pirates pitchers with 25 starts while going 4-8 with a 5.48 ERA and 1.57 WHIP in 116 2/3 innings last year, Crowe initially wasn’t happy about being removed from the rotation.

As Shelton explained, they thought it would be a natural transition for Crowe because he liked to throw more between outings than the typical starter. The Pirates coaches tried to convince Crowe that pitching out of the ’pen would be good for him by more frequently feeding his competitive edge.

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Crowe’s initial results did the trick: He didn’t allow a run through his first 12 innings over five appearances and finished April with two earned runs while striking out 17 in 15 2/3 innings. He notched his first career save, allowing one hit and striking out four in three scoreless innings in a 6-2 win over the Chicago Cubs on April 13. Crowe also had five strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings in a 4-3 win over the Cubs on April 21.

“Once we started to create the role and then put him in the role early on, he had some success,” Shelton said, “and I think he really bought into it.”

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

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

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 2, 2021

Wil Crowe, Dirty 88mph Slider. ???? pic.twitter.com/FP8y0vQyoj

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 23, 2022

The key for Crowe was buying into the analytics and adapting. He threw a four-seam fastball on 35% of his pitches as a starter last year, when opponents hit it at a .328 average, per Statcast, so Crowe cut its usage in half this season. He made what his teammates call a Bugs Bunny changeup his putaway pitch, increasing its usage from 18% to 30% while relying more on his slider (29%) and sinker (21%).

“I’m sure guys know this, but my four-seam to righties last year was bottom-five in the league. My four-seam to lefties, though, was top 10%. So why would I come at righties with a four-seamer when it’s getting crushed?” Crowe said. “I’m not going to play that game with those guys. I throw the four-seamer to righties; I just throw it in different places. Last year, I was trying to throw it all over. Now I’m throwing it to certain zones. The bulldog mentality is more, ‘I’m coming at you.’ It doesn’t have to be with the hard stuff. It’s with my stuff. That’s the way I take it: I’m going to come after you with what I’m good at doing. If you get me, you get me but I’m going to trust my (stuff) and that it’s going to get you.”

The results have been impressive. Batting averages against Crowe have plummeted, especially against his slider (.132) and heater (.192). His hard hit rate has dropped from 37.1% last season to 21.4% this year, which ranks in the 100th percentile.

After a rough June, when he gave up eight runs in a four-game span between June 18-28 and had a 5.93 ERA in 10 appearances, Crowe has been mostly dominant this month. He has allowed one run on four hits and two walks while striking out three in 5 1/3 innings to record five consecutive holds. In the 5-2 win over the New York Yankees on July 5, he responded to giving up a single and a walk by getting Aaron Judge to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end a scoring threat. Crowe retired the Milwaukee Brewers in order in the eighth inning of a 4-3 win Saturday.

“It is not an easy transition for a guy like that, to go from starting to being in the ’pen like that, but he’s taken it and run with it. That’s been cool to see,” said Pirates closer David Bednar, who was selected to the All-Star Game on Sunday. “That just goes to that mentality of going after guys. I think he freed himself up and just took over that mentality. Once he had some success, he just kept building and building off of it.

“The stuff’s always been nasty. It’s cool to see the confidence come with it. As you have more success with it, it’s easier to be more confident. What we’re seeing now is a result of it.”

No wonder Crowe’s confidence has increased, and he’s chugging his favorite pitches the way he does Red Bulls before an appearance. Not having to concern himself with facing a lineup multiple times has allowed Crowe to go a tick higher on his fastball.

“Being in the ‘pen, you’re a little shorter (on innings) so the intent is a lot higher,” Crowe said. “You don’t have to worry about the second or third time through. You’re just going at ’em. It’s much easier to pull it out. I can go a little psycho out there and be mad at all times and just go after people and have that funky mentality from pitch one.

“It kind of changed my perspective a little bit. It showed me that when things change how to go after it. I’m really enjoying it. I’m having a lot of fun. I’m enjoying my time. I think I’ve found a role and a place and am enjoying where I’m at right now. I just want to keep it going.”