After rough season debut, Falter bounces back against Orioles
Bailey Falter believes he was beginning to shy away from being the pitcher that ended up getting him to the big leagues in 2021. When he’s at his best, he’s attacking hitters with his fastball and utilizing his secondary pitches as complementary pieces of his arsenal.
On Saturday, Falter bounced back from a sluggish start in Miami — one in which he allowed six runs in four innings — to toss six scoreless in the Pirates’ 5-4 extra-inning victory over the Orioles at PNC Park.
“That was big time, especially after my first start,” said Falter, who allowed one hit and one walk while striking out one against a high-powered Orioles lineup. “Got with the pitching coaches, couple of the other guys — Martin (Perez), Mitch (Keller) — and talked to them, simplified some things, went out there and attacked some guys and it paid off pretty well.”
Falter’s fastball was reliable throughout the outing, as he turned to it 78% of the time with an average velocity of 91.3 mph, an uptick in comparison to his 90.7 mph average. He used his slider 12 times and threw in an occasional curveball and sinker, but none were more effective than his go-to pitch, which he was able to locate and get outs with.
“Been trying to work on some other stuff instead of coming to to my identity. I personally think my fastball is my best pitch, and all my other stuff is to get you off of it,” Falter said. “Fastball location was really (good) today. A lot of first-pitch strikes. Fell behind to maybe a couple hitters. When that happens, you tend to have a really good game.”
Falter, who threw 53 of his 78 pitches for strikes, saw just three base runners reach. He retired the first 10 batters he faced before walking Adley Rutschman to conclude a seven-pitch at-bat in the fourth. Another runner reached on an error in that inning and Falter ended up allowing his first and only hit when miscommunication between Jack Suwinski and Alika Williams allowed a fly ball to drop for a double to begin the sixth. Despite the tough luck, Falter managed to induce a popout, a flyout and a groundout to stay clean through six innings.
“That’s the sharpest we’ve seen Bailey. He was really good,” Derek Shelton said. “As we’ve talked about, that’s a really good team, and he kept ’em off the barrel the entire game. It was an outstanding effort by Bailey.
“I think the location of the fastball is what stood out. He got off the barrel inside to some elite right-handed hitters and was able to keep going with it.”
