There was some excitement when the Pirates first called up veteran arm Ben Heller back in early June. His stats at a glance weren’t all that impressive, but his underlying performance was actually quite solid, and when he was on his game, he was finding ways to carve up opponents at the Triple-A level.
Signed as a minor league free agent by Pittsburgh in the winter, Heller was coming off his first fully healthy season in quite some time, one that saw him split time between Triple-A and the majors after a trade to Atlanta.
In 18.1 innings with the Indianapolis Indians, Heller pitched to a 4.91 ERA, allowing 10 earned runs and 5 homers. However, opponents batted just .214 against him, and he racked up 34 strikeouts.
His whiff rates, however, were his real draw. Many of the whiff rates on his pitches would have led even Major League Baseball had he been playing in the majors.
These kinds of numbers caught the attention of the Pirates front office, but more importantly, it was also catching the attention of another front in the league, one that, according to Pirates general manager Ben Cherington, was willing to give Heller an opportunity in the major leagues.
Heller had an opt out clause in his minor league. deal, and another front office could have essentially poached him with the promise of MLB time. So, the Pirates got ahead of it, and called him up themselves.
Unfortunately, it was an utter disaster.
Heller pitched just 2.0 innings for the Pirates, amassing a 49.50 ERA, and 5.000 WHIP. He allowed 11 earned runs in two games for the Pirates before he was designated for assignment.
Sadly for our old pal Ben, his appearance in the major leagues must have scared off that other team that was willing to make an offer, because he went unclaimed on waivers and sent back to Victory Field in Indianapolis.
Since then, however, he has pitched perfectly. Literally perfectly, because of course he has.
Heller made his first appearance back with Indy on June 19th, pitching the eighth inning and striking out a pair on his way to a three up, three down inning. He became the pitcher of record and earned the win.
He has since appeared in five games for the Indians, accounting for 6.1 innings. He has yet to allow a single hit since returning to Indy, and has recorded 2+ strikeouts in all but one of his games.
The only player to get on base was a walk that came on July 1st. It remained his only walk since his return.
His most recent outing came on July 5th, at home against the Louisville Bats. He was incredibly efficient, tossing just 11 pitches (and 10 of them for strikes) while striking out a pair and getting through 1.1 innings.
It’s actually a shame that the Pirates couldn’t get this version of Heller at the major league level. He would provide the bullpen with a lot of stability and a really good option had he found a way to bring this kind of success to Pittsburgh.
It will be interesting to see if he can keep this performance up in Triple-A. The Indians have cycled through pitchers this season, with constant raiding from the parent club and others declaring free agency. They could really use an arm like Heller to give them reliable innings.
His time in Pittsburgh probably soured the vast majority of fans on him ever coming back, and I’m right there with you. But let’s just play out a hypothetical real quick.
Through 6.1 innings in Indy, Heller has a 0.00 ERA, 9.00 K/BB ratio, and is throwing a strike 69% of the time. Obviously a scoreless ERA can’t hold forever, and that ratio is set to fall a little. But if they can stay anywhere in the realm that they are now, I can honestly see it possible he gets another recall late in the year, especially if the Pirates are out of contention.
But that’s a conversation that is probably moot and also way down the road. Good for him for (so far) rebounding in Triple-A.
(Featured photo from AP)
Fifth Avenue Sports 
Leave a comment