From the outside looking in, Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Josh Fleming seemed to undergo a swift fall from grace leading into his designation for assignment in mid-May.

In April, the 28-year-old lefty was sharp, posting a 2.13 ERA over 122⁄3 innings and showcasing an ability to pitch multiple frames when needed through his first 11 outings.

But in May, Fleming started to hemorrhage runs, culminating in a calamitous May 13 appearance against Milwaukee during which he was torched for five hits (including a grand slam) and five earned runs.

A day later, he was jettisoned before ultimately clearing waivers and accepting assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis, with the Pirates calling up righty Ryder Ryan in his place.

Rather than pout about the demotion, Fleming looked in the mirror and resolved to get back to Pittsburgh, which he accomplished last Friday, when the Pirates selected his contract from the Indians.

“Honestly, I took it as a sign of like, ‘Hey, you need to get your (stuff) right. You need to go down and get your (stuff) right,’ ” Fleming said. “I wasn’t throwing strikes, so for me, it was like, ‘Hey, let’s go down there, let’s focus on throwing strikes and let’s work my way back up.’

“(Teammates) texted me saying they were sorry, but I was like, ‘Hey, don’t worry. I’ll be back up soon.’ That was my mentality: Go down there, work on some things, get my mind right and work my way back up.”

Command indeed plagued Fleming during the tail end of his initial stint with the Pirates, as he threw just 21 strikes out of 40 pitches in that game against the Brewers.

Statistically speaking, Fleming wasn’t exactly lights-out at Triple-A, allowing eight runs in 121⁄3 innings for a 5.48 ERA in seven appearances.

But Fleming made the most of his time in the minors, working on his delivery and getting back to pounding the strike zone consistently.

“Any player that’s honest with themselves, they take that criticism,” manager Derek Shelton said. “It’s not even criticism, it’s feedback. They take that feedback and decide in one of two ways: I can continue to do it my way and see if that works, or I can make an adjustment.”

Upon rejoining the Pirates last week, Fleming quickly was thrown into the fire and tasked with starting a full bullpen game June 16 against the Colorado Rockies.

In an 8-2 Pirates win, Fleming got the job done, giving the Pirates four scoreless innings before Carmen Mlodzinski, Justin Bruihl and Kyle Nicolas split the remaining five.

Fleming allowed four hits, struck out a pair and walked none.

“I was obviously happy with it,” Fleming said of his outing. “That was the first time I’d gone four or more (innings) since last year in May. To be able to do that a year later felt good. Body felt good and it helped that pitch count, I was able to keep it down.”

Continuing to throw strikes as well as being effective in sequencing his sinker, cutter and changeup will be key for Fleming as he hopes solidify his position in the Pirates bullpen.

“The difference in the outing in Colorado the other day was just strikes,” Shelton said. “When he’s been in the zone with the sinker and the cutter, he’s shown the ability to get major-league hitters out. We’ve just got to make sure he’s in the zone.”

While pleased with what he was able to do in Colorado, Fleming has already turned the page.

His attention is now centered on getting ready for whenever his number is called again.

“The big thing is keep it going,” Fleming said. “Don’t want to think about the last outing, just want to move onto the next one, hopefully keep throwing more strikes and keep putting up positive results.”

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