Pirates confident in Gonzalez-less bullpen
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) – Despite losing closer Mike Gonzalez in a trade, Pittsburgh Pirates officials say they remain confident about their bullpen. Before Gonzalez was sent to the Atlanta Braves in the January trade that brought first baseman Adam LaRoche to Pittsburgh, the Pirates were going to have a closer who was perfect in save situations last season.
Gonzalez was 24 for 24, with workhorses Salomon Torres, Matt Capps and John Grabow in setup roles and Damaso Marte as the one-out specialist. The Sporting News earlier this month rated that group No. 1, with the significant asterisk that its research predated the Gonzalez trade.
“I think we can be very capable,” manager Jim Tracy said Sunday. “There are still a lot of very good relievers here, all of whom can still get better than they were.”
Capps said he isn’t worried.
“You look around at the guys we have, the good innings they give you and how we did in the late-inning situations, and I think we’ll be fine,” he said.
Torres will be the closer, a role he filled for the final five weeks of 2006 after Gonzalez went down to an elbow injury. He converted 11 of 12 saves with a 1.26 ERA in that span, all while running up his total appearances to 94, the most in Major League Baseball.
“It’s a great honor, an important job, a step up in my career,” Torres said. “I’m going to work very hard to make sure the trust the Pirates put in me is not in vain.”
Perhaps a greater challenge will be replacing all of Torres’ appearances, because the Pirates are not likely to get more out of their relievers. Capps’ 85 appearances ranked second in the majors, Marte’s 75 ranked 11th, and Grabow’s 72 ranked 25th.
“No question, that’s not going to be easy,” Tracy said. “You don’t find too many arms out there like Torres’ where he can get you not only the quantity of innings but also the quality. At the same time, we’ve got some people like Matt Capps and John Grabow who we feel are ready to take the next step.”
As a 22-year-old rookie who bypassed Triple-A, Capps had a 3.79 ERA and only 12 walks in 80 innings. Grabow, a 28-year-old third-year veteran, had a 4.13 ERA in the heaviest duty of his career.
As a team, the Pirates’ 3.89 ERA was the fourth-lowest in the National League.
There are three openings in the bullpen this spring.
One is expected to be filled by the loser of the duel for fifth starter between Tony Armas Jr. and Shawn Chacon. Another should go to Dan Kolb, an All-Star closer with the Milwaukee Brewers three years ago who is in camp on a minor league contract. The third should go to one of a group of promising young relievers, including Josh Sharpless, Jonah Bayliss, Juan Perez, Brian Rogers and Jesse Chavez.
NOTES: Armas is due in camp Monday after missing the first three days due to visa problems. Outfielder Jody Gerut, still slowed by knee surgery last summer, has yet to take the field.