PITTSBURGH — Bailey Falter‘s dad, Darwin, told him growing up that his two greatest friends on the mound are going to be first-pitch strikes and not walking batters. If he attacked the zone, good things can happen.
Falter has indeed attacked the zone this May. Great things have happened, including on Tuesday night. The Pirates lefty did not issue a free pass, threw 16 first-pitch strikes to the 24 batters he faced and spun seven scoreless innings, setting the pace for a 1-0 win over the Reds at PNC Park.
“He was electric,” manager Don Kelly said. “His fastball [was] exploding through the zone, command on both sides of the plate and pitching in. Just the way [catcher] Joey [Bart] was able to mix in the offspeed there and then go back to the fastball, and Bailey just stuck right where Joey wanted it on the inside lane, especially.”
Falter might be the hottest pitcher in the National League right now, having allowed just one run over 23 2/3 innings in May. That 0.38 ERA is the lowest among all NL pitchers with at least 20 innings pitched this month.
It was around May last year that Falter really found his footing, too. He chalks that up to coincidence. What’s not coincidental is how the fastball is playing right now. When he’s able to jam it inside to right-handers and pitch out of that tunnel, he’s running downhill.
“If I can execute that in a rail to the right-handed stuff, it opens up so many doors for me,” Falter said.
Falter handed the ball off to Dennis Santana in the eighth, leaving the ninth for David Bednar.
Like usual, Bednar ran onto the mound with Styx’s “Renegade” blaring. Remember those games over the last five years?
“I think those are the spots you want to be in,” Bednar said. “You want to beat those guys and take home a win.”
Kelly doesn’t have a closer at this time — he’s playing the matchups, and he liked Bednar’s stuff against the top of the Reds’ order — so expect to see Bednar and Santana flip-flop in the eighth and ninth mostly. It’s a bit of luxury to be able to pick those spots, and it’s only possible because Bednar is looking more like his old self.
Bednar didn’t have his secondary stuff early in the season and he tried to live off of his fastball. It didn’t work, and he was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis during the team’s first road trip. While he got his outs with his fastball on Tuesday, Bednar also had the secondary stuff, landing a big strike to Elly De La Cruz with a curveball that set up the final out.
“Just the extra conviction of knowing what makes me good and why I’m able to have success,” Bednar said. “Just continuing to build on that, keep that going and let that build, outing to outing.”
Spencer Horwitz made his first start at PNC Park in a Pirates uniform, lining a pair of base hits in addition to being intentionally walked. Pittsburgh’s offense is struggling, and while no one player is going to fix it, Horwitz at least offers a boost now that he’s back from his offseason right wrist surgery.
“It’s been eye-opening, it’s been frustrating, it’s been fun, it’s been disappointing, it’s been all of the above,” Horwitz said about the start of his Pirates career. “To get to this moment is super cool.”
The Pirates certainly missed his bat when Horwitz started the season on the injured list, but he was able to work on his defense very shortly after the procedure, especially with his footwork. That extra work is showing as he becomes more comfortable at first base after being mostly a utility man throughout his pro career.
On Tuesday, Horwitz made a leaping grab and applied the tag to Tyler Stephenson to save Ke’Bryan Hayes from an error, and on Saturday, he made a backhanded pick and toss home to save a run.
It’s a small sample size, but the early returns with his Horwitz’s glove have been encouraging.
“Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise that I’ve had more time to focus on my defense, and it’s showing right now,” Horwitz said.
