With cuticle in check, Pirates pitcher Chad Kuhl ready to make his 1st start in 2 seasons

The Pittsburgh Pirates wanted to clear the confusion, so manager Derek Shelton started with an announcement: Chad Kuhl will be the starting pitcher on Friday night against the Detroit Tigers.

That only created more.

Steven Brault had been listed the probable starter, given that he was five days removed from pitching three perfect innings on Sunday against the Chicago Cubs in a piggyback outing with Kuhl.

“I think we said all along when we were going back and forth with those guys that we would mix up the starts of how they were doing it,” Shelton said, with a shrug. “We just felt that it was a good opportunity for Chad to start.”

Kuhl (0-0, 1.80 ERA) will face Tigers left-hander Matthew Boyd (0-1, 7.20) at 7:05 p.m. Friday, marking Kuhl’s first start since June 25, 2018, when he suffered a right elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery and caused him to miss all of last season.

“It’s exciting,” Kuhl said, “just to be able to help the team and fill that role as a starter again.”

Kuhl’s latest medical issue was less severe — an abrasion to the cuticle on his right index finger — but it forced him out of the game after pitching only 1 1/3 innings. Kuhl said the nail cut into the cuticle and he felt it tear on his last warmup pitch of his second inning.

“The pressure on that index finger was a little too much for my fastball,” Kuhl said. “I couldn’t really control the fastball in that second inning, just wasn’t doing myself any favors or doing the team any favors trying to be stubborn and go through it. Figured the best thing was to get out and let the bullpen take over.”

Kuhl has thrown every day this week, including a bullpen session, and believes he’s ready to throw four innings.

What was the hard part for Kuhl to swallow is that he believes his first inning against the Cubs “was probably the best I’ve felt since surgery.” His breaking pitches were working but he lost some command on the fastball because of the bleeding on his finger. That’s the most frustrating part, that he was pitching not only well but pain-free — at least, in his elbow.

“Just because it’s so small and you know that it kind of popped up out of nowhere,” Kuhl said. “I tore my elbow and got two more outs in New York, and I couldn’t muscle through this so it’s a little bit of a frustrating thing. But we’ll get through it.”