General manager Neal Huntington took the blame Sunday for some of the Pirates’ bullpen issues, a day after manager Clint Hurdle said he was reconfiguring the way he uses his relievers.
“The general manager didn’t give the manager a legitimate eighth-inning guy or seventh-inning guy, speaking in conventional terms,” Huntington said.
The Pirates began the year with Michael Feliz pitching the seventh inning and George Kontos setting up Felipe Vazquez. They released Kontos and moved Feliz into the setup role, but Feliz began struggling near the end of May. Kyle Crick has pitched the eighth inning at times, and Friday, Hurdle brought in Tyler Glasnow in the seventh with a one-run lead.