{"id":58689,"date":"2023-06-08T12:00:01","date_gmt":"2023-06-08T16:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=58689"},"modified":"2023-06-07T20:55:18","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T00:55:18","slug":"roansy-contreras-struggles-hurting-pirates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/06\/08\/roansy-contreras-struggles-hurting-pirates\/","title":{"rendered":"Roansy Contreras’ Struggles Hurting Pirates"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a> shipped Jameson Taillon<\/a> off to the Yankees prior to the 2021 season, they received four prospects back in the deal. Roansy Contreras<\/a> was one of two pitchers in the trade. The other was Miguel Yajure<\/a> who was a bit closer to the major leagues at the time. He\u2019s since been designated for assignment and plays in the San Francisco Giants organization now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fast forward a few years and Contreras had a sharp rise through the Pirates\u2019 system. He pitched fantastically in the minors to earn a promotion last season and was slated to be a full-time rotation arm in 2023. His first full season in the majors hasn\u2019t quite gone to plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Contreras started the Pirates\u2019 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday afternoon and couldn\u2019t make it out of the first inning. Contreras allowed seven earned runs on six hits in just \u2153 of an inning. He did this damage on just 38 pitches. Quite the (un)impressive feat.<\/span><\/p>\n

Contreras\u2019 season-ERA has ballooned to a troublesome 5.91 across 56 \u2153 innings. He\u2019s made 11 starts and 12 total appearances as he was briefly moved to the bullpen. An injury to Vince Velasquez<\/a> opened a spot back up for Contreras to re-enter the rotation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Roansy Contreras\u2019 Struggles Hurting Pirates<\/b><\/h2>\n

Coming into the season, the Pirates were hoping for Mitch Keller<\/a> to build off of his 2022 season. He\u2019s broken out in a big way in 2023 and is on some people\u2019s radar for NL Cy Young<\/a>. Pittsburgh wasn\u2019t necessarily hoping for a similar breakout by Contreras. However, expecting him to build off of a 3.79 ERA in 18 major league starts wasn\u2019t too much to ask. It\u2019s safe to say the league has punched back in Contreras\u2019 second season.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Wednesday\u2019s outing, the first six batters reached base in some form or fashion. Contreras then recorded an out by striking out Shea Langeliers<\/a>. The next batter tapped one out in front of the mound that Contreras made a play on. He picked up the ball but the throw pulled Carlos Santana<\/a> from the first base bag. Contreras\u2019 afternoon ended right there.<\/span><\/p>\n

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It looks like Roansy Contreras went and Manoah\u2019d all over the place today. pic.twitter.com\/22J3Yzrxbi<\/a><\/p>\n

— Matt Williams (@MattWi77iams) June 7, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n