Contreras on struggles: 'Just face them and move forward'

PITTSBURGH -- Roansy Contreras has shown, in spurts, the capability to be a Major League starting pitcher. Amid the most turbulent stretch of his career, Contreras is searching for what he needs to do to stick in the rotation.

Contreras endured the roughest start of his young Major League career as the Pirates lost to the A’s, 9-5, on Wednesday afternoon at PNC Park. He allowed a career-high-tying seven earned runs and recorded just one out.

“It’s always hard, especially at this point in my career, to go through that,” Contreras said through team interpreter Stephen Morales. “But we all know as players, we’re going to go through those moments. Just face them and move forward.”

From start to finish, Contreras’ outing lasted roughly 20 minutes. The first seven batters that he faced reached base via a walk, back-to-back singles, a walk, a double and back-to-back singles. Contreras finally retired a batter by striking out Shea Langeliers, but after Kevin Smith immediately followed up with a swinging bunt single to load the bases, manager Derek Shelton went to his bullpen. Contreras had allowed five earned runs upon departing, but two more runs were added to his line after Rob Zastryzny issued back-to-back bases-loaded walks.

“For some reason today, it was hard for me to get into a rhythm,” Contreras said. “I felt like my body wasn’t connected to my arm and it was hard for me to make pitches.”

The Pirates originally planned to move Contreras to the bullpen several weeks prior after the right-hander posted a 5.64 ERA and a 6.69 FIP in his first four starts of May. On May 28, Contreras made his first relief appearance of the season, tossing two scoreless innings with a strikeout against the Mariners. Prior to the game, general manager Ben Cherington told 93.7 The Fan that the club believes Contreras will be a starting pitcher in the long term.

“That’s what we believe he will be,” Cherington said. “That’s what we want him to be.”

Added Contreras after his May 28 relief outing: “It’s going to help me out in many ways to come out of the bullpen in different situations and execute my pitches right away,” he said through Morales. “In the long run, that’s going to help me when I get back to my starting role.”

When Vince Velasquez landed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow discomfort in his first start off the IL -- Velasquez was sidelined in the first place due to right elbow inflammation -- the Pirates scrapped those plans and Contreras rejoined the rotation.

Contreras’ one-game stint in the bullpen hasn’t provided the reset that the team has hoped for. In his first start back in the rotation, Contreras allowed five earned runs and two home runs in four innings against the Cardinals, all of those runs coming in the third inning. In the series finale, Contreras grinded through the worst start in the bigs so far.

“We know what kind of pitcher Roansy is,” Rodolfo Castro said through Morales. “He’s going through rough moments right now. As a teammate, we’ll try to get him in the right spot emotionally. That way he can come back and be the Roansy we know he can be.”

Now Pittsburgh must figure out how to proceed. Shelton said the team has yet to determine what it will do next, but if the Pirates are going to deviate from the status quo, the likeliest route would be putting Contreras back in the bullpen. If they go with that route, however, they’d have to figure out the question of who replaces Contreras in the rotation, and there is no easy answer.

The most tantalizing choice would be Quinn Priester, the Pirates’ No. 4 prospect per MLB Pipeline, but the 22-year-old likely requires more seasoning with Triple-A Indianapolis before making the jump to the Majors. In 12 starts this season, Priester has a 4.63 ERA across 56 1/3 innings.

With off-days Thursday and Monday, the Pirates could play around with the configuration of their rotation. Beginning Tuesday, though, they play 26 games in 27 days to close out the first half. During that stretch, Pittsburgh will need as much starting pitching as possible.

“I don’t think we’ve made that decision yet," Shelton said. "We have the off-day, then we have the Mets for three and another off-day. We can figure it out. After that, we have a stretch of 17 or 18 in a row, and we’re not going to be able to go without a starter. We’ll sit down and talk about it."