First Pitch: The Next Innovative Edge For the Pirates?

Jeff Locke has a 4.02 xFIP the last three years, and could benefit from help from the bullpen. Photo Credit: David HagueThe Pirates haven't been afraid to try new approaches and extreme strategies over the last few years. They went heavy on defensive shifts before that became a league-wide trend. They were one of the first teams that invested heavily in strong pitch framing catchers. They even tried an approach last season to reduce the workload of their position players with strategic rest, which only infuriated the fans when a player sat, but led to some career highs in playing time for a lot of individual players on the roster.

So the approach they're trying this year sounds like just a…