CINCINNATI — When the Pirates acquired Johan Oviedo as part of the Jose Quintana-Chris Stratton trade, there was an acknowledged need to be patient. General manager Ben Cherington and manager Derek Shelton also told anyone who asked about the gigantic right-hander that they viewed him as a capable major league starter.
In the first game of a doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, Oviedo gave the Pirates five dominant innings during a 6-1 victory, demonstrating why the organization was so adamant about him being part of a deal that also included Double-A power-hitting prospect Malcom Nunez.
The 6-foot-5, 245-pounder did not allow a run and permitted just one hit — a single by first baseman Spencer Steer in the fifth. Oviedo, who has had some command issues in the past, walked two in the third but was able to quickly steer the train back on the tracks.
“We knew there were certain things we wanted to do with him,” Shelton said of Oviedo. “When you acquire a guy, it's not instantaneous. The fact that he took to it and was able to execute, it's a really good sign.”
Among his 74 pitches, four ended with a strikeout. Oviedo’s slider was especially nasty, as he threw it 19 times, resulting in 10 whiffs and three called strikes.
Oviedo said the slider was a big focal point for him this past week as he prepared for this start, focusing more on throwing it for strikes and worrying less about swing-and-miss. The thought process fit how he approached the rest of his outing: filling up the strike zone and allowing his fielders to help him out.
After a short stint in the minors to stretch out as a starter and address some minor mechanical things, Oviedo worked quickly and efficiently, enjoying his best outing in a Pirates uniform and his second-longest this season behind the only start he got with the Cardinals: June 4 at the Cubs, when he allowed three earned runs over five innings and needed 99 pitches to get that far.
“That’s the first five-inning start in a while for me because I came from the bullpen,” Oviedo said. “My plan was to try to get through those five and let my stuff play in the zone, not try to get swings and misses or strikeouts. ... Hopefully next time I can go a little deeper.”
On the offensive side, what the Pirates did Tuesday mirrored their explosion Monday night against left-hander Mike Minor, leveraging this ballpark’s band-box dimensions and leaning into the long ball.
Ke’Bryan Hayes, Bryan Reynolds and Cal Mitchell went deep as the Pirates (53-88) have now won back-to-back games for just the third time since the All-Star break.
Reynolds got things started for the Pirates with a single in the third inning before Hayes smacked his career-high seventh home run a frame later, extending the Pirates’ lead to 2-0.
It was a terrific and powerful swing from the Pirates third baseman, too, as he turned on an inside fastball and sent it screaming over the fence in left-center at 105.7 mph, 425 feet away onto a patio atop the Reds bullpen.
“Kinda just been working on staying tall with my posture, allowing the barrel to work a little more out front,” Hayes said. “The last week or so I’ve been feeling a lot better at the plate, laying off pitches that I was previously swinging at or think I can do damage on. Just being in a good position, being on time for those ones that are over the plate and trying to put a good swing on ‘em.”
Continuing his personal tradition of pummeling the Reds here, Reynolds hit his second home run in as many days in the fifth inning, driving a first-pitch slider from Cincinnati’s Luis Cessa out to right-center.
It was the 23rd of the season for Reynolds, one shy of his career-high set last year. His nine homers against Cincinnati are also the center fielder’s most against any opponent — and they’ve all come in this ballpark.
Mitchell’s drive extended the Pirates’ home run total this season among rookies to a franchise-high 50. Furthermore, it gave them their third instance this season where they’ve hit three homers in back-to-back games.
“I think it’s just being aggressive and getting those pitches over the middle of the plate, not missing ‘em,” Hayes said of the approach that’s been working for the Pirates. “The last month or so, I feel like we’re being a little more aggressive at the plate, capitalizing on the mistakes that the pitchers are making.”
Roster moves
Before Game 1, the Pirates recalled catcher/first baseman Zack Collins from Triple-A Indianapolis and optioned Tucupita Marcano to make room on the active roster. They also selected Luis Ortiz, the Game 2 starter, as the 29th man and designated Bligh Madris for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
The Pirates claimed Collins, 27, off waivers from the Blue Jays on Sept. 7, where he hit .194 with a .683 OPS across 26 games this season, striking out in 31 of his 79 plate appearances.
Collins said he prepared to both catch and play some first base, while the Pirates will surely hope he’s able to bring out whatever he did in 2019, when he hit .282 with a .951 OPS in 88 games for Triple-A Charlotte, accumulating 19 home runs and driving in 74 runs.
Most shocking among the moves might honestly be Madris, who showed some positive signs early on but struggled during this latest stretch with the big club, hitting just .102 in 24 games (19 starts) from July 28-Aug. 28.
Madris, who has played the outfield and first base, has enjoyed a terrific season with Triple-A Indianapolis, hitting .294 with an .848 OPS in 71 games, but he hasn’t been able to get that success to translate to the major leagues.
After collecting five hits in two games at the beginning of August, Marcano had also gone quiet of late, hitting just .121 with one extra-base hit and 10 strikeouts in 36 plate appearances over his past 10 games.
