In the offseason, the Pittsburgh Pirates looked forward to having one of the best late inning group of relievers in baseball with All-Stars Felipe Vazquez and Keone Kela pairing with emerging stars Richard Rodriquez and Kyle Crick. All but Crick ranked within the top 50 in FIP among all MLB relievers with 40 or more inning. Crick’s 3.14 FIP ranked just outside at 51st, still among the better relievers in baseball, and well under the league average of 4.06. His 2.39 ERA ranked 19th.
This season has been much different.