The Pittsburgh Pirates made a surprising yet encouraging move on Wednesday regarding their bullpen, which may be beneficial not only in the short term but also in the long term. After a short stint back up with the team, Kyle Nicolas was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis for the return of Carmen Mlodzinski.
Nicolas showed signs of improvement, only allowing one run in 4.1 IP over the last week, but needs to show that he can pitch in higher leverage situations in Triple-A, as his early-season numbers down there are almost as bad (1.81 WHIP) as they are in the 12 innings he’s pitched in the big leagues.