Wil Crowe didn’t mind talking baseball Sunday afternoon, but he preferred to keep the conversation focused on his outing against the Boston Red Sox.

He was the starting pitcher in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 9-4 victory at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla., working 3 2/3 innings and allowing one run, four hits and one walk.

“My fastball command was very iffy,” said Crowe, a rookie who can start or work in long relief. “But I was able to flip in curveballs, flip in sliders, throw some good changeups and keep (batters) off-balance. That’s all I’m trying to do out there: get soft contact and get guys out. Being able to do that without my fastball really is very encouraging.”

It was another step forward for Crowe, 26, who was acquired in the offseason from the Washington Nationals — with pitcher Eddy Yean — for former All-Star first baseman Josh Bell.

His Sunday outing was the good news. But when he was asked during a Zoom call about the unfortunate weekend his former teammates at South Carolina had against Vanderbilt, he preferred to change the subject.

Vanderbilt’s two pitching aces, Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter, handcuffed South Carolina batters in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday. Rocker struck out 14. Leiter threw a no-hitter.

“We’re not going to speak about that,” he said, noting Vanderbilt products and Pirates teammates Bryan Reynolds and Jason Delay surely will mention it.

Adam Frazier is now hitting .625 (15-for-24) this spring.

He hit another double while we were tweeting this. ? pic.twitter.com/HmcLeOQNRp

— Pirates (@Pirates) March 21, 2021

Perhaps one day Crowe will be teammates with Rocker or Leiter. Both are expected to be high draft choices in the 2021 MLB Draft, and the Pirates have the first pick.

“They are great pitchers, great arms, electric stuff,” Crowe said.

Meanwhile, Crowe is hoping to carve out a niche for himself on the Pirates’ roster.

“They haven’t told me anything,” he said of where he might fit. “Whatever they tell me to do is what I’m going to do.”

He said getting traded for Bell, a popular player who hit 37 home runs and recorded 116 RBIs two seasons ago, doesn’t create pressure.

“They traded for me for a reason,” he said. “They gave up a good player, but they also think they got a good player back. All I can do is go out there and show them I’m a big leaguer and I can help the team win.”

Crowe has limited big league experience, starting three games and throwing 8 1/3 innings late last season. He allowed 14 hits (five homers), 11 earned runs with eight walks and a hit batsman. Half of the batters he faced (23 of 46) reached base.

That was against two teams — the Miami Marlins (twice) and Atlanta Braves — that advanced to the postseason. In four spring training appearances over the past month, he’s struck out seven and allowed seven hits and one run in 9 2/3 innings.

“Definitely a breath of fresh air,” he said of starting over with a new team. “I felt like when I was with the Nats, there wasn’t a lot I could do. I could go out and throw 10-12 scoreless outings, and I might still be in Triple-A.”

Crowe said his approach to pitching is different with the Pirates.

“I’m throwing pitches in different counts that maybe I wouldn’t before. There’s more of a plan,” he said.

“Before it was ‘You have five pitches. Do whatever you want.’ Now, it’s more like I have a gameplan, a path and I’m not out there by myself doing it on my own.”

He’s also resting the day after he pitches, a shift from past practices and a strategy he hopes will pay off in September.

“Over the course of 30 starts, that’s 30 off days your body gets to take a rest and you have that extra time for later in the season,” he said. “That’s when you want to be your best. It’s making me feel better, making my arm feel a lot better on the recovery side.”

When he was with the Nationals, Crowe said he tried to learn from veteran pitchers Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg.

“Those guys are some of the smartest pitchers, the best pitchers out there,” Crowe said. “Just the way they prepare, the way they go about their business, the way they do things from the start of spring until the end of the season, you can learn by just watching.”

Manager Derek Shelton is not ready to commit to any specific role for Crowe, whose course this spring could change if starter Steven Brault’s left arm tightness lingers. Shelton had no update Sunday.

“The fact that (Crowe) can throw multi-innings is important,” Shelton said. “We’ll watch how the next five-to-eight days play out in terms of (the starters).”

Hello.

Here's a Bryan Reynolds home run. pic.twitter.com/AI6j0Zs4VO

— Pirates (@Pirates) March 21, 2021

NOTES: Adam Frazier is hitting .556 with a 1.423 OPS after rapping two doubles and driving in three runs against the Red Sox. … Bryan Reynolds hit his third home run in the past five games and Ke’Bryan Hayes added a triple and single and drove in a run for the fourth consecutive game. … Todd Frazier was scratched from the lineup after waking up Sunday morning with low back tightness.

Ke'Bryan Hayes ? Extra-Base Hits pic.twitter.com/tcMb9GVRXk

— Pirates (@Pirates) March 21, 2021

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