PITTSBURGH – Erick Fedde had what appeared to be a much-needed bounceback outing through the first four innings Monday night.
The right-hander had shown plenty of poise, retiring eight Pirates in a row after allowing a leadoff home run on his second pitch of the game and putting runners on first and third with nobody out. Fedde avoided trouble despite several hard-hit balls, and he found ways to retire Pittsburgh hitters early in the count.
Then things took a turn for the worse in St. Louis’ 7-0 series-opening loss to the Pirates at PNC Park.
The fifth inning started harmlessly enough, with a weakly hit broken-bat single by Joey Bart, but it quickly escalated. Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s sacrifice bunt turned into a hit, then Fedde’s command of his cutter and sinker began to waver.
Pittsburgh sent 10 hitters to the plate in the inning, tallying seven hits, two of them for extra bases. After needing just 11 pitches to navigate through each of the first two innings, Fedde had to throw 26 to get through the fifth. When the dust settled, St. Louis trailed by seven.
It was deja vu from Fedde's start last Wednesday.
“It kind of feels like the last start where it just happened really quick again,” said Fedde, who fell to 3-8 on the season. “I’ve got to be a better professional at slowing that down and just not allowing things to get out of hand quickly.”
It seemed like it was only a matter of time before Pittsburgh started to cash in with some hits against Fedde after recording six hard-hit balls through the first three innings. Early on, the balls were sent harmlessly right at Cardinals defenders. Then they began finding holes in the infield.
“A lot of thigh-high misses,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “[Fedde] really didn't have anything to put them away today, just the swing and miss, all of it. So yeah, we’ll continue to look into it. The last two outings haven’t been good; we have to be better. And it is what it is.”
As a pitcher who relies on forcing contact as opposed to blowing away hitters, Fedde relies on pounding the strike zone and finding outs early in the count. Fedde has just 57 strikeouts on the year in 92 2/3 innings; his 15.2% strikeout rate ranks in the fourth percentile in the Majors, while his 17.8% whiff percentage ranks in the sixth percentile, per Baseball Savant.
Without a putaway pitch, Fedde finds himself in trouble when he falls behind. Fedde threw just 47 strikes in 82 pitches and didn’t record a strikeout in the game.
“When you look at the overall strikes, if you fall behind and you don't have swing and miss, you’re making it that much harder on yourself,” Marmol said. “So we need to be better about that to keep it simple.”
It was the second consecutive start that Fedde has been charged with seven runs on eight or more hits. Last time out, he lasted just 3 2/3 innings against the Cubs.
“It just feels like a lot of the first-pitch swings I’m getting are hits rather than those quick outs,” Fedde said. “It's probably just one of those things where it's not as [much] late, late movement probably, and that's causing better swings. But I’ve got to get back to those quick outs and putting some zeros up on the board.”
Fedde’s strong May – in which he had back-to-back scoreless outings, including a complete game – showed promise. Still, through 17 starts this season, he hasn't been able to replicate the success that he had in 2024 after coming to St. Louis from the White Sox in July.
“When you’re giving up runs, most pitches aren't going where you want them to go,” Fedde said. “I’ve just got to be a little more precise on what I'm doing and locating balls and giving us a better chance to win.”