Pirates Pitcher Aims For Adjustments After First Start
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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski made his first start of the season against the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner field in Tampa, Fla., which saw mixed results.
He did well through the first three innings, allowing just two hits, a walk and no runs, while striking out three batters.
Mlodzinski would struggle in the fourth inning, allowing five hits, four earned runs over two outs, before Pirates manager Derek Shelton went to left-handed reliever Tim Mayza.
Despite the bad ending, Mlodzinski still liked his start and that he will work on what mistakes he made going forward.
“Yeah started out solid," Mlodzinski said. "I feel like I was executing the pitches I wanted to execute. First time through the order and then kind of hit a road bump in the fourth inning, second time through.
"Feel like I probably just to execute a little bit in a different zone with these guys. They were kind of leaning out over a little bit."
"Wasn’t necessarily like I threw pitches right down the middle. It was more just bottom that they were able to lean into a bit. I feel like if we just change a little bit of the stuff in terms of where I’m executing, it would’ve helped in the fourth inning, for sure."
Mlodzinski earned a spot in the starting rotation, after right-handed pitcher Jared Jones suffered a Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) sprain in his right elbow, which will keep him from pitching until at least early May.
He pitched in 40 games and made four starts for the Pirates in 2024, finishing with a 5-5 record, a 3.91 ERA in 50.2 innings pitched, 46 strikeouts to 19 walks, a 1.18 WHIP, a 8.17 K/9 and a .223 opposing batting average.
Mlodzinski hasn't started since the 2022 season at Double-A Altoona, but came into this season with aspirations to start again, earning the start in the Spring Training opener.
He excelled early, but noted that he'll have to greatly improve through the second and third times through a lineup, if he wants to keep starting in the future.
“Yeah, for sure, it’s a challenge," Mlodzinski said. "That’s why the starting pitchers make the money because it’s hard. It’s a hard thing to do to go through the order, two times, three times, but this is something to learn off and I’m going to rely on my teammates who have struggled before in their careers in making the adjustments and what to take in a next outing to be able to have success the second time and third time through.”
Mlodzinski is still confident of what he has in terms of his pitching arsenal and that he'll spend time over the next few days, figuring out what went wrong and what adjustments he'll have to make.
“Yeah, I mean, confidence that I’m going to take away is that those first three innings were solid," Mlodzinski said. "I feel like I executed what I wanted to do and we had a solid game plan and went and attacked. The side that sucks is the fourth inning, of where, that’s where I need to make the adjustment. I’m going to look into that inning and dive into the details of what do I need to adjust. Specifically, I know what was getting hit, but what zones do I need to make the adjustments toward and go from there.”
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.