Pirates Insider Show: Ben Cherington on what must happen with the bullpen

CLEVELAND — Back with another collection of tidbits from Sunday’s Pirates Insider Show …

Ben Cherington described the Pirates’ bullpen issues this season as “a pretty focused area” when it comes to improving the team. But the general manager emphasized that immediate fixes would have to come internally.

Asked how the Pirates were addressing the number of blown saves they’ve had this season — 18, tied for fourth-most in MLB — Cherington there simply wasn’t enough action around the trade deadline to make the type of deal they ultimately want to make.

“Deadlines are deadlines for a reason,” Cherington said. “Sometimes they bring everyone to the table. There’s a reason things tend to happen close to deadlines. We’re gonna keep working at that. There is time between now and the deadline.

“It’s hard to predict the pace of things. There are things we could have done already that I think over time, people would have not wanted us to do. We have to stay at it, keep working the phones and keep focused internally.”

The most obvious candidates seem to be Dennis Santana and Gregory Soto, late-inning relievers in March and April who have struggled for much or part of the season. At least in Soto’s case, he’ll get more chances to pitch late in games. He simply needs to be better.

The Pirates also welcomed back Wilber Dotel in Cleveland, they could go back to Triple-A Indianapolis to give Jose Urquidy or Mike Clevinger a shot, and Khristian Curtis showed well in his MLB debut Saturday.

They need more from Isaac Mattson, another back-end option to start the year, and they need the recent version of Mason Montgomery (zero earned runs over his last eight appearances) versus the one who had an 8.68 ERA in his 10 appearances before that.

That’s also not excusing upgrades around the deadline, and Cherington knows it. After all, this group has a 4.44 ERA, which ranks 23rd in MLB. For a team with playoff aspirations, the results have to improve.

“If we continue to execute with good stuff, better things are gonna happen,” Cherington said. “Then also with that, continue to work our tails off to find more good solutions.

“It just gets back to having as many good solutions as possible for specific matchup lanes late in the game so can shut down those innings more consistently than we have been.”

Where is Carmen?

Carmen Mlodzinski has now made 10 appearances in his new role. He’s 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in an MLB-high 28 2/3 innings since making the switch, with two saves and a hold.

More importantly, the Pirates have won eight of those games.

It’s why Cherington believes the multi-inning, leverage relief role the right-hander is occupying has added value. And why the Pirates are determined to stay the course instead of using Mlodzinski as more of a traditional, late-inning guy.

“We really believe the role he’s in now is valuable, arguably the most valuable role he could be in for the team,” Cherington said. “Sometimes you get in trouble and start moving guys around to solve something else and create another problem.

“We’re focused on improvement in all areas of the staff. Feel like Carmen’s a major part of the solution already. We want to stay focused on that.”

Draft talk

The Pirates have until 5 p.m. on July 27 to sign their draft picks. While Cherington doesn’t expect to come to terms with every single one, he described his confidence level as “high” when it comes to signing first-round pick Derek Curiel.

“At the time of the draft, we felt pretty clear with where things were,” Cherington said. “Had good conversations with Derek and the Boras Corporation. We’ve had open lines of communication, good relationships with both him and the agency. Felt clear at the draft and nothing that has happened since then has been surprising. Confidence level is high.”

Slot value for the No. 5 pick is $8,336,500. Considering Curiel played two years at LSU and appears ready to start his MLB career, the Pirates could potentially cut an under-slot deal with a player who was ranked 12th in the class by MLB Pipeline.

That would enable them to allocate some extra money to second-round pick Aiden Ruiz, a high school shortstop the Pirates had much higher on their board than where he was picked.

Cherington said Ruiz had one of the highest contact rates of any high school position player anywhere last summer, something the GM described as “a predictive measure.” The Pirates also had Ruiz at PNC Park for a pre-draft workout and saw an impressive uptick in his exit velocity.

“We’re starting to see the ball coming off the bat a little harder,” Cherington said. “He’s not gonna be a 40-homer player or anything like that. That’s not who he is. But we think plenty of impact to get the ball into gaps and hit some home runs.

“Put all that together — the defense, character, contact and growing impact — we think it’s a really good package. We’re looking forward to getting him in the system.”

Seth Hernandez in relief?

Seth Hernandez created a fun discussion when he said last Sunday at the MLB All-Star Futures Game that he wanted to show the Pirates he could pitch out of the bullpen.

Pretty sure Hernandez was joking around, but Cherington saw the comments and had a couple of reactions.

One, it tracks with what the Pirates have learned about Hernandez’s entertaining personality, his confidence and obsession with baseball. But they’re also not thinking that far down the line with someone who’s so darn important to the organization.

“Right now, we’re focused on developing him as a starting pitcher,” Cherington said. “We have to keep an eye on his total volume this year. We’re already kind of doing that. Before and after the Futures Game, you’ll see a couple shorter outings to give him a little bit of a de-load period and taper.

“He’ll keep pitching for a bit after that. But we have to keep a long-term focus. This guy has a chance to be a really good starting pitcher for the Pirates for a long time.”

Injury updates

The fractures in Oneil Cruz’s hand are still causing him some minor discomfort, Cherington said. So the Pirates decided to push back his return-to-play progression.

When that date got close to what it would be if he went on the 60-day injured list (Aug. 7) they went ahead and opened Cruz’s spot on the 40-man roster, adding Khristian Curtis on Saturday morning.

“It’s progressing,” Cherington said of Cruz. “There’s not a setback, per se. But he still has symptoms. When he’s swinging and making contact, he’s feeling it. Which tells us there’s some healing going on still. We have to listen to that.”

As for other injury updates, Cherington said the Pirates hope Endy Rodriguez and Spencer Horwitz will start rehab assignments within the next week to 10 days, while Evan Sisk started a throwing program on Saturday. His return likely won’t come until August.

Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.