The Pirates have settled on their starter for the next game against the Cardinals, and it’s a familiar bullpen arm taking the ball again.
Right-handed reliever Lake Bachar will start for Pittsburgh on Sept. 23 at PNC Park as the Pirates try to wrap up the series against St. Louis.
It will be his eighth start of the season for the Pirates, and he already handled this exact type of assignment in the 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals at PNC Park on Sept. 20.
Pittsburgh opened the series with a 2-0 shutout of the Cardinals on Sept. 22, so another win would lock up the series for the Pirates.
Bachar has become the club’s starter for these bullpen games over the past month. The Pirates have been forced into two bullpen games because Braxton Ashcraft and Mitch Keller are out with season-ending injuries, leaving Bubba Chandler, Jared Jones and Paul Skenes as the only healthy starting pitchers.
This setup is nothing new for Bachar. He made his first start for the Pirates against the Boston Red Sox at PNC Park on Aug. 16 to give Skenes extra rest, then took on the same role again in the bullpen game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 23.
Now he’s back in the spot he’s filled most often, only this time it will be in place of Ashcraft’s turn rather than Keller’s.
There is some short turnaround built into the plan. Bachar pitched just three days before this start, and only worked one inning, the sixth against the Royals on Sept. 19.
The results have been solid. In this role, Bachar has posted a 2.08 ERA, allowing four earned runs across 17.1 innings.
The Pirates are expecting roughly two innings from Bachar before handing things over to the bullpen. That group should be well stocked after barely being touched in the series opener, when Jones went seven innings and gave up only one hit. Luke Weaver handled the eighth, and Gregory Soto finished the job with the save in the ninth.
Pittsburgh will have seven other relievers available on two days’ rest for the Cardinals. The rookie trio of Khristian Curtis, Wilber Dotel and Antwone Kelly could all factor in, with one or two of them potentially taking bulk innings. Also available are Carmen Mlodzinski, Yohan Ramírez and Kirby Yates on the right side, plus Brandon Eisert and closer Mason Montgomery on the left side.
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