Whether as 'opener' or in traditional relief outings, Pirates' Carmen Mlodzinski returning to form

When Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Carmen Mlodzinski struggled out of the gate after being called up to the big leagues in mid-May, manager Derek Shelton was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for several reasons.

For one, Mlodzinski flashed potential last season in his first taste of the majors, becoming one of the Pirates’ top bullpen arms.

Additionally, Mlodzinski is only 25 and has made fewer than 50 MLB outings.

“Let’s step back and think — this guy’s got less than a year in the big leagues,” Shelton said. “But there’s definitely steps he can take to make sure he continues to get better. There’s definitely room for growth there.”

Mlodzinski also was sidelined toward the end of spring training with right elbow inflammation.

After recovering and completing rehabilitation assignments, Mlodzinski spent roughly the first month of this season at Triple-A Indianapolis before the Pirates recalled him May 15.

Upon getting settled in Pittsburgh and making his first few appearances in the majors, something seemed off for Mlodzinski, who had an 0-2 record and 9.39 ERA over 7⅔ innings at the end of May.

He also walked men in all but one of his first five outings, with batters hitting .333 against him over that span.

But since the start of June, Mlodzinski has looked like a new man on the mound, posting an 0.84 ERA over his last eight games, with nine strikeouts, six hits and a lone earned run in 10⅔ innings.

Carmen Mlodzinski's sweeper is also disgusting

3-pitch strikeout to start the 2nd

85.1 MPH, 2684 RPM, 38 inVB, 12 inHB pic.twitter.com/RYuazA3IiY

— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) June 8, 2024

“I had a little bit of a rough patch when I first got called up,” Mlodzinski said. “Gave up a lot of runs in a short amount of time. Now I’m having a bit more of a sample size, more outings under my belt. It’s just evened itself out. Being able to fill up the zone has helped me be a little more comfortable here.”

Mlodzinski was a starter for most of his minor-league days, transitioning to the bullpen once he got to Triple-A in 2023.

Last year with the Pirates, he made one start in a bullpen game July 9.

Of late, the Pirates have utilized Mlodzinski in that role twice: June 8 vs. Minnesota and the June 14 against Colorado.

Mlodzinski only pitched 2⅔ combined innings in the two starts before Shelton handed the ball over to Luis Ortiz.

But opening games and getting back to his pitching roots has been an enjoyable experience nonetheless for Mlodzinski.

“I would call them just being an ‘opener,’” Mlodzinski said. “Starting, ultimately, that’s my career goal, is to be able to be in a starting rotation one day. It’s fun. Feels like you’re a starter out there again. Still a little bit of a shorter leash, but it is something that’s nice.”

One notable change for Mlodzinski this season has been the emergence of the cutter as his No. 2 pitch.

Last year, Mlodzinski primarily complemented his four-seam fastball with a sweeper and changeup, but after making some tweaks in May as he navigated through a rough patch, his cutter, followed by a slider, now rank Nos. 2 and 3 in usage behind the heater, per Statcast.

“I was throwing my cutter last year and was throwing it up and down, depending on the handedness of the batter,” Mlodzinski said. “This year I did make a bit of an adjustment to the pitch, so it’s more of a grip separation.

“If I know I’m going down, I have a certain grip, and then if I know I’m going up, I have a true cutter. That’s something I stole directly from Mitch Keller.”

In particular, Mlodzinski has aimed to emulate how Keller uses the similar velocities of the two very different pitches to keep hitters off-balance.

“They kind of look the same coming out, but they both have different action,” Keller said. “Especially for (Mlodzinski) to use it, it’s great.”

While starts have been sprinkled into Mlodzinski’s workload of late, he’s also done his part in standard relief situations, including a pair of multi-inning outings June 12 against St. Louis and four days later vs. the Rockies.

Mlodzinski owns a 0.84 WHIP in June (the same as his ERA), holding opposing hitters to just a .162 average against.

So far this month, he’s given up just one earned run.

“Being able to stack outings and stack zeros on top of one another is the life of a reliever,” Mlodzinski said. “That’s the ultimate goal, is to be able to put a zero out there for your team and to be able to put your team in a chance to win the game.”