In keeping tabs on Pittsburgh’s top farm team, the Indianapolis Indians, there has never been a better time to pay some extra attention to the pitching staff down there.
The bullpen, in particular.
The Pirates have already made several moves involving Indianapolis and the bullpens, including the recall of Carmen Mlodzinski, the constant shuffle of Ryder Ryan, and the DFA’d Josh Fleming being sent outright to the Indians.
But after a horrific month of May for Pirate relievers, there is a definite chance more moves could be coming as the Pirates fight to get back to .500.
One name that I have found interesting, however, was Ben Heller. The Pirates signed the veteran righty to a minor league deal back in December, and despite being in baseball for a long time, injuries have wrecked his career.
As a result, Heller had just 50.0 major league innings to his name when he was signed by Pittsburgh. He was credited with a 2-0 record, 3.06 ERA, and 46 strikeouts in those innings.
The bullpen was supposed to be the Pirates’ greatest strength coming into this season, so somebody like Heller was a long shot to make the team out of spring training.
As expected, he didn’t make the team, but the Pirates stashed him in the bullpen for Indianapolis to open the year.
His time in Indy has been filled with ups and downs. At his best, he has shown a nasty pitch arsenal that is a big contributor to his elite strikeout numbers.
As Ben Brewster was generous enough to document, Heller’s whiff rates are absolutely absurd right now, as are his strikeout numbers.
Heading into June 1st, Heller had 33 strikeouts in 17.1 innings pitched. He has the third highest strikeout figure among Indy relievers, behind Geronimo Franzua’s 37 and Connor Sadzeck’s 36.
However, both Sadzeck and Franzua have pitched 9+ more innings than Heller.
In addition to that, his 4.71 strikeout to walk ratio is very impressive, as is his 17.1 strikeouts per nine innings, both of which are near the top of Indy’s pitching staff.
On the other hand, his lows have been quite low.
Heller had a horrific week and a half from May 9th to May 18th. In 4 relief appearances and 7.0 innings, Heller surrendered 5 home runs. He has 10 earned runs against him on the year; 8 of those came off those home runs.
Before that stretch, he was working with a respectable 3.18 ERA while opponents were batting just .150 with an OPS of .400 against him.
That stretch has really jacked up his season ERA, which now sits 5.19. However, since that last home run, he has pitched 4.2 scoreless innings in his last 5 games. He struck out 45% of his batters faced in that time frame.
Aside from that really bad week and a half, Heller has had an amazing start to the Triple-A season, and it begs the question: if he can keep this up, will he get a shot with the Pirates last season?
Despite his limited major league action, you don’t have to look far in the past to look at MLB outings for Heller.
Last season, his first fully healthy season is about half a decade, saw him start the year in the Tampa Bay Rays organization in Triple-A. In early June, after posting an abysmal 6.59 ERA in 27.1 innings pitched, the Rays traded him to Atlanta for future considerations.
In Triple-A Gwinnett he rebounded tremendously, pitching to a much better 2.16 ERA in 16.2 innings. That eventually earned him a promotion to the Braves, where he finished the season pitching in 18.2 innings with a 3.86 ERA.
In all, 14 of his 19 appearances saw him yield no runs to his opponent with Atlanta.
With a Pirate bullpen that is obviously struggling, don’t rule out further moves being made as the season goes on, particularly with guys who still have options remaining.
Heller probably needs to show more stability on the mound before Pittsburgh seriously considers a call up. He has been great in recent games, but that four game home run streak is still a little too close in the rear view mirror.
There is a lot to like in Heller’s game this season for the Indians, it’s just a matter of keeping up the good work. I’d like to see him get a shot in the major leagues at some point this season; those whiff numbers are just too enticing.
It’s a little soon for it now, in my opinion, but if he pitches over these next few weeks like the way he has in his last five games, he absolutely deserves a call.
(Featured photo by Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)
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