CINCINNATI — In Trevor Williams’ mind, what happened Monday was inevitable.
Had the Pirates come out of the All-Star break better, instead of losing 14 of 16, Williams was hopeful they might be adding key pieces, not subtracting them.
But on Monday, a day after Neal Huntington declared that the Pirates would be sellers as Wednesday’s MLB trade deadline looms, the general manager made his first move by trading Jordan Lyles to the Milwaukee Brewers for 25-year-old minor league reliever Cody Ponce.
In the visitors’ clubhouse at Great American Ball Park before the start of a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds, Williams and others definitely took notice.
“At this point in the year and the direction that we’ve been going after the All-Star break, it’s inevitable,” Williams said. “Certain guys are going to be traded. It’s a part of the game. It’s part of the job.”
“It’s unfortunate whenever a teammate goes out the door, but [Lyles is] going to have success wherever he goes. He’s a true professional. … He came in to our rotation and really jelled with everyone. He was willing to help us every step of the way.”
The Pirates signed Lyles to a one-year, $2.05 million contract on Dec. 17, 2018, believing he could maybe earn the final spot in their starting rotation. Lyles did that and a whole bunch more out of the gate, becoming one of their best early-season stories.
The right-hander went 4-1 in his first eight starts while pitching to a 1.89 ERA with 52 strikeouts and just 16 walks in 47⅔ innings. For a stretch, Lyles was maybe their most reliable pitcher. But over the past two months, that changed.
In his past nine starts, Lyles was 1-6 with a 9.57 ERA. Two of his past three outings totaled just seven outs, while Lyles allowed 15 runs in those games.
The yin and yang of Lyles’ tenure in Pittsburgh was befuddling to pretty much everybody around the Pirates.
“He learned a lot,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “He kept talking about making adjustments, then finding something that worked and stabilizing it. It was never for lack of preparation of work.”
Lyles was actually supposed to start Monday’s game against the Reds, although Alex McRae slid into his place. The Pirates recalled Montana DuRapau to round out the roster.
Ken Rosenthal was the first to report the trade. Lyles found out while at the team hotel and never made it to the ballpark.
Ponce, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound right-hander, has been pitching for Class AA Biloxi. In 27 appearances, no starts, Ponce has a 3.29 ERA with a pretty good strikeout to walk ratio: 44 to 12 in 38⅓ innings. Ponce has never pitched in the major leagues.
A few years ago, Ponce was a full-fledged starter. Even last year, also with Class AA Biloxi, Ponce split time between the bullpen and starting. Hurdle seemed to indicate that the Pirates are still working through where exactly they will use Ponce, although he will start his Pirates career with Class AA Altoona.
“We like the pitcher, like the arm,” Hurdle said. “Another guy that our analysts and our scouts both liked.
“We’re not putting him into a cubbyhole right yet. He’s a guy who we felt was good value in return for Jordan Lyles.”
Lyles pitched for the Brewers last year after he was traded to Milwaukee from San Diego. He wound up making 11 appearances, no starts, and pitching to an ERA of 3.31.
With one trade deadline this year, it stands to reason that Milwaukee could choose to use Lyles as a bit of a tweener — someone they know they can stash in the bullpen until they might need him to start.
With the Pirates very much in sell-now mode, players are certainly expecting more than just Lyles to get moved. But it’s all part of the business, they said, and they’re not going to lose too much sleep over whatever happens.
“Every year I’ve been part of seeing guys go, just being on a different side of it now,” outfielder Corey Dickerson said. “Still hard to compartmentalize until something does happen. I just try to focus on being the best me possible today.”
Williams said he was especially intrigued to see how having just one trade deadline instead of two changes things for the Pirates and other clubs. But he certainly expects more movement.
“I wouldn’t be surprised just given how poorly we’ve been playing coming out of the All-Star break,” Williams said. “The first year with the new trade deadline rules is going to be interesting. It could be nothing happening or it could be madness for the next 2-3 days. I think we’ll find out soon.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG
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First Published: July 29, 2019, 7:17 p.m.
Updated: July 29, 2019, 9:46 p.m.
