Roansy

Contreras

It was one run through two innings, but Contreras allowed two singles and a double to open the third. What followed was a foolish decision to intentionally walk Corey Seager, and Contreras went on to give up an infield single before being pulled. Fortunately for Contreras’s ERA, Hunter Strickland managed to strand two of three runners after taking over with the bases loaded and none out. Contreras is due to start again Sunday against the Mariners in the final game before the break, but that could wind up as a bullpen day.

Contreras walked three batters, struck out one and was lifted after just 53 pitches (29 strikes) in an abbreviated outing. The 24-year-old righty figures to continue drawing starts for Los Angeles, but he’s going to need to be more efficient if he’s going to stick as a traditional starter.

This was Contreras’ first start of the season and he was stretched out to 61 pitches after not topping 50 yet this season. Working as a starter, he leaned far more on his slider than he had in his relief appearances and threw it more often than his fastball. Contreras used that slider as his primary pitch often last season in Pittsburgh as his fastball effectiveness waned. That fastball still isn’t great and he had trouble putting hitters away, as he seemingly always has.

It’s a favorable matchup for streaming purposes, but Contreras is too risky to roll the dice on, with the notable exception of extremely deep mixed leagues or AL-only formats. The 24-year-old former prospect was acquired last month from the Pirates in a small trade and has fared reasonably well in nine relief appearances for Los Angeles. Angels manager Ron Washington told reporters they’re hoping to get at least four or five innings out of Contreras on Wednesday afternoon.

Contreras was designated for assignment by the Pirates on Saturday to make room for Paul Skenes. The 24-year-old was moved to the bullpen this season and had posted a 4.41 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, and 16/8 K/BB ratio across 16 1/3 innings. However, Contreras was a top-100 prospect just a couple of years ago, ranking as MLB Pipeline’s 67th overall prospect prior to the 2022 season. Entering 2024, Contreras had a 3.67 ERA in 98 MLB innings with a 9.5 percent walk rate and 21.4 percent strikeout rate while limiting opposing batters to a .225 batting average. However, he had seen a troubling decline in fastball velocity and his command wasn’t good enough to hide his diminishing raw stuff. Still, at just 24 years old, there could easily be a solid MLB pitcher lurking in there somewhere; he just didn’t necessarily land in the best place for that pitcher to be unearthed.

Contreras has been jettisoned from Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster for free up a spot for top prospect Paul Skenes. The 24-year-old former starter holds a pedestrian 4.41 ERA, 1.65 WHIP and 16/8 K/BB ratio across 16 1/3 innings (12 appearances) this season in a relief role.

Contreras missed three games while being away from the club. He’ll rejoin the Pittsburgh pitching staff with Jose Hernandez heading back to Triple-A in the corresponding move.

It was a rough spring for Contreras, who pitched to a 6.08 ERA and 2.03 WHIP and was officially moved to the bullpen. However, this news will certainly overshadow that. Contreras does have slightly more upside as a reliever, so it will be interesting to see how he looks in that role once he returns. LHP Jose Hernandez has been recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis to take Contreras’ place on the 26-man active roster.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton made revelation to reporters on Thursday that Contreras will pitch in relief moving forward. The 24-year-old righty has posted a bloated 6.08 ERA, 2.03 WHIP and 12/13 K/BB ratio across 13 1/3 innings (six appearances, three starts) this spring. It’s not an encouraging sign that Contreras’ spring ERA looks like the model number for a Boeing jetliner, but there’s a chance his stuff plays up in relief.

That he’s out of options pretty much assures that Contreras will open the season in the majors, but the Pirates aren’t going to put him in the rotation at this rate. He has an ugly 4/10 K/BB ratio to go along with his 7.59 ERA in 10 2/3 innings.