Pittsburgh Pirates: Steven Brault’s dominant June pushes for promotion

“Squid Watch” drones on in Pittsburgh as Steven Brault is scheduled to make his first July start in Triple-A.

A blue sky with billowing clouds covered Victory Field in downtown Indianapolis. The sun shined down, kissing the infield dirt, outfield grass and raised mound, before a grandstand of green seats. All was motionless aside from a group of pitchers running sprints in left field. Six black jerseys, all with red numbers, raced back and forth in sequence. Though, one man stood out among the half dozen.

Steven Brault, a left-handed pitcher in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization, has asserted himself among a young, talented Triple-A Indianapolis pitching staff.

And, ‘asserted’ might be an understatement.

“He’s definitely making a case for himself,” said Indianapolis manager Andy Barkett. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t make it to the All-Star Game, just because of the way he’s pitching.

“He deserves a chance with the first half numbers that he’s had.”

Brault, who was named a Triple-A All-Star last week, has continued to knock on Pittsburgh’s door with impressive appearance after impressive appearance. The 25-year old won all five of his June starts, struck out 33 batters in 34 innings and finished with a 1.32 ERA. Last month was the only instance in his professional career in which he recorded more than four wins in a month; The California native was 4-0 in August 2014 and August 2015.

Indianapolis catcher Jacob Stallings, who has caught eight of Brault’s 15 starts this season, identified a couple of changes in his battery-mate.

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“As opposed to last year, he has thrown his curveball a little more,” said Stallings. “I think his two-seam fastball has been the biggest contributor because it allows him to go into lefties.”

The Regis University product has owned left-handed hitters in 2017. Lefties are batting .177 with 32 strikeouts. Opponents featuring highly-touted prospects have experienced a similar fate.

Against talented Lehigh Valley and Durham last month, Brault had a total of 17 strikeouts in 15 shutout innings. Furthermore, he toyed with five MLB.com Top 100 prospects; They were a combined 2-for-15 with 7 strikeouts. Two members of the quintuplet were top prospects J.P. Crawford of the Philadelphia Phillies and Willy Adames of the Tampa Bay Rays, both who went hitless.

“I want to face the best team every time. It’s really fun,” Brault said. “I think it gives you that extra little edge.”

With an ‘edge,’ confidence follows Brault. He was given the chance to tie the longest start of his career (September 4, 2015) by returning for the eighth inning on Thursday night. There was no chance he was going to squander the opportunity.

“I wanted it more than I can tell you,” Brault said. “I felt it was mine.”

Despite domination and a Triple-A leading 2.04 ERA, Brault is still identifying skills to sharpen.

“There’s always stuff to improve. The one down from tonight was my changeup wasn’t exactly where I wanted it to be,” Brault said after his last start. “Just being able to get that more consistent and have that always there if I need it is going to be really important moving forward.”

Indianapolis pitching coach Stan Kyles reiterated and elaborated upon the sentiments of his ace.

“It’s not just throwing the changeup, it’s identifying when he has to throw it,” said Kyles. “It’s a great enhancement pitch, not only to get hitters out but to make his other pitches effective.”

Pittsburgh Pirates

As the objectives to accomplish dwindle, the louder the discussion becomes for Brault’s return to Pittsburgh. Regardless, he remains unfazed of whether he will be wearing black and yellow for his next start.

“For a lot of the season, we haven’t known when we were going to start next,” said Brault. “We’ve had a lot of rainouts. We’ve had a lot of mixtures within the rotation.

“It kind of keeps you on your toes. It (a potential promotion) doesn’t weigh on me. If it were weighing on me, I don’t think I’d be able to perform the way I need to.”

As of today, Brault is scheduled to start July 4 — Indianapolis’ final home game before the Triple-A All-Star break. Outside of finishing the first half strong, ‘Squid’ has Tacoma and taking the ball for the International League on his mind

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“It’d be really cool. It’d be awesome,” Brault said of starting the Triple-A All-Star Game. “I was actually looking at the roster of people that made it. I was like, ‘Oof, it’ll be tough.’ There are some guys that are having really good years. It’d be an honor.”