PITTSBURGH — Dillon Peters’ Pirates debut probably didn’t carry the same weight as some others this year.
He was an under-the-radar acquisition for the Pirates back in June, when they purchased him from the Los Angeles Angels. He isn’t a top prospect anymore, and he hasn’t had dazzling numbers in his time in the majors, but the Pirates saw something they liked.
Since then, Peters, who will turn 29-years old at the end of the month, has been solid at Class AAA Indianapolis, allowing just two runs in 12 innings of work. On Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers, with an open spot in their rotation, the Pirates called him up, making Peters the 55th player to appear in a game for the team this season, which ties the franchise record for most players used in a season.
Really, Peters’ outing went as well as could have been expected. He appeared to be on a pitch count, given his lack of work in the minors, so in what turned out to be a 2-1 loss, Peters pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing one earned run, five hits, three walks and two strikeouts.
Peters had just one 1-2-3 inning, which came in the second inning. He was working around traffic on the base paths all afternoon, but he did so pretty smoothly, with only a Christian Yelich double in the third inning causing him any harm.
It could be pointed out that there was some hard contact against Peters. Of the 16 batted balls against him, nine were hit with a 90-mph exit velocity or higher. Many of those were hit in the air, but Peters at least held the Brewers within the confines of PNC Park, which was good enough for a solid showing.
All of that is to say that even if Peters didn’t blow anybody away with his first Pirates appearance, it certainly wasn’t his fault that the day ended in a loss.
The offense, which has been poor for most of the year, was again flummoxed by Brewers pitching. They went hitless in seven of the nine innings of the game. Their only run came in the third, when shortstop Kevin Newman doubled to right field, Peters bunted him over to third and outfielder Ben Gamel singled ran out an infield single to drive Newman home.
Just four Pirates had a hit, and none of them had multiple base knocks. All but Newman’s double went for just one run.
It shouldn’t come as any surprise. The Brewers dominated the Pirates this season. This was the last time the teams will face off, so the Pirates’ final record against Milwaukee will be 5-14.
That, obviously, is not good, even if it’s understandable given where the teams are in the standings.
On the bright side, the Pirates got a solid outing from a pitcher who hasn’t had many in the major leagues. It’s unclear what that will mean for Peters’ future, but with right-hander Bryse Wilson moving to the injured list to give Peters a look, it would stand to reason that Peters will at least get some opportunity in the majors for now.
If that’s true, this was a solid first step, even if it came in another loss.
